Solitary Confinement
by IanAbraham
Summary: The grey goblins have invaded the north pole and have imprisoned Santa and elves in the factory. As far as they are concerned Christmas has been cancelled. Who will save them. Meet Diggles, Petra and nine new reindeer. Buck, Bounce, Blazen, Lightbulb, Headbanger, Glitz, Nuts, Sprinter, Princess. Along with other celebratory characters too.


**1**

It was fast reaching the end of the year and everything was slowly coming together. The north pole had been the busiest ever. Apparently, all the boys and girls had been good this year. That was a first in history. Santa had to check his list more than once. He even asked Mrs Claus to check and the chief elf too. It was too much of an important issue that nothing could be left to chance. It was correct. Extra shifts had been laid on and things were being monitored every second of the day. Everyone had been included and were doing everything possible to ensure that this was the best year ever.

Except for one. Petra. She was a young elf who had her own ideas on a few things and she was always in the workshop of her house tinkering away with new ideas. This year she had taken it upon herself to ensure that every present was delivered on time. Santa could not let anyone down this year. Now even though she was a young elf that meant nothing, elves seemed to live forever. I mean Petra herself was just coming up to a hundred years. Well next year anyway. This would mark her as being acknowledged as an experienced elf. Right now, she just didn't quite qualify for that.

"No, no, no, NO."

She was annoyed everything was so critical it had to be just perfect this was being built for one special guy and it couldn't be wrong and yet it was. Now Petra would have to start all over again. One simple mistake had rendered the circuit board useless. She had been up all night too and had not slept in sometime. Perhaps if she grabbed a quick nap then it would be better than starting on a new board straight away. She yawned and stretched her arms. It felt good to stretch. She leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes.

"Are you ready?" came the voice.

There was a nod. They had taken some time to get here and they still had plenty to do this was going to their most horrific enterprise to date. The trolls of the hidden lands had been digging all year and had it had taken them until now, because of all the obstacles. Who knew that the ocean went so deep? I mean the trolls were not the most intelligent and when they broke through, they soon realised that this large mass of water existed on the other side. Well, have you ever seen a work party of trolls flaying around in the tunnels in the hidden lands? Neither have I, but I can just imagine those large bodies getting trapped in all the tunnels as they are forced upwards to the cavern where they had first started to dig down. That had set them back a couple of months. They then had to dig under the ocean. That took a long time and needed more trolls. Well eventually it had been completed and then came the grey goblins. Now the green goblins were just jealous and envious of everyone. The black goblins were nasty and mean, but the grey goblins, were strong crafty and cunning. Who liked to play tricks and cause a lot of trouble? Well this year it was to cause the most trouble possible. An army of them had been going through the tunnels. Slowly following the trolls. Now they were in position. Hundreds of them hiding and waiting.

Everyone had already left to go to the workshop. They were easily outnumbered ten or even twenty to one. That wasn't why there was so many grey goblins. Now they crept forward, just in case anyone was still on the streets. They didn't want an alarm to be raised.

"Do it now."

Came the call. They all charged and surrounded the workshop. Now six trolls were brought forward and started to hammer on the door of the building. Except they were not knocking. The intention was to smash in the door.

"I wonder who that can be," said Diggles.

Diggles didn't always present himself as seeming too clever and always cleaned up after the others. However, he was very observant and knew every elf by name.

"Perhaps Petra has come to help?"

He knew that she wasn't there and that she had not been there for many, many days. Silly Diggles went to unbolt the large doors to the workshop. No one was any the wiser.

It was seldom that they had visitors. Most things came by airmail. Those in the large land had created this thing called the internet and so they ordered all the spare parts needed and everything was dropped in by air. You see every gift given was created and made in the workshop at the north pole. Now you would think to yourself, why live in a place so cold? Well where they were it wasn't as cold as you might think. You see right at the very top of the world was this large red and white striped, candy cane like pole with a very large 'N' on the top of it. No one would think that just because a large pole with and 'N' on top meant anything, but it did. You see for every child that was good throughout the year gave a peace of the good they had created, which travelled north to the large 'N' this helped to power the town at the north and so they had the warmth to be able to keep working hard as everyone in the world this year had been good. It was almost like a summer vacation as it was so warm there, but it was no vacation as there was so much work to do. As soon as the Easter rabbit had delivered its eggs and spoiled everyone, work had started to get everything ready. If they hadn't started that early there was no way that they could have coped with all the gifts, that had to be hand crafted.

They were still hard at work.

"Hey does anyone know what a Mini Mouse is?"

"Why?"

"Some kid wrote to Santa and wishes one."

"Look it up on the doohickey."

"The what?"

"You know whatchamacallit."

"Seriously, speak properly."

"Oh, the thingamajig."

"I know what you mean. The internet."

"Really, now whose making up silly words as if anyone would call something with such a preposterous name."

The elf wanting to know what a mini mouse was typed it into the thingamajig, it popped a fused, flickered twice and kicked into action. Petra had built the machine from scratch. She had no idea what the real name of the gadget was called to access this highway of information. Therefore, she had created the thingamajig.

"Woah," said the elf. "That's huge. I will never make one that big in time."

Petra had also made a large viewing screen too. Now most probably had a forty to fifty-inch screen for viewing. Petra didn't know that. Hers was one thousand and took one side of the workshop.

"Aargh!" screamed a worker seeing the huge mouse on the screen.

"Idiot," said another, slapping him across the back of the head. "You have it on ten thousand times zoom."

"Really, is that a thing? Your messing with me."

A quick tap on some keys and a few other movements and there on the screen was a small mouse.

"There you go, your mini mouse."

"Wow. That is no bigger than my little finger," he said, holding it up to the screen.

"Seriously, don't you know how to use this thing. Print off the schematic and measurements," said the foreman, coming up.

As he was giving instructions and the machine kicked into life. Well, that was when Diggles slipped the bolt back to the doors and slid them open. The hammering wasn't so noisy, but the troll who had been near Diggles hadn't stopped and his fist hit him on the top of his head knocking him out.

Then the shouting and orders started to erupt from the goblin leader.

"I'm Blasta and you are now all prisoners of the goblin army. Lay down your tools," he bellowed.

The goblins and elves were of a similar size, but the goblins all looked meaner and rougher. The elves didn't want the gifts to be damaged and all raised their arms.

"What is the meaning of?" this came the voice.

Santa was much larger than the elves. He needed to be so that he could lift that very large sack, stuffed full of gifts. Now he came down the stairs from his office and headed towards the goblin leader, but he was immediately seized by the trolls as soon as he stepped onto the factory floor.

"You can't do this unhand me at once," Santa protested.

"No way tubby," he said, prodding Santa's rotund belly. "You and your elves are now our prisoners."

"Why are you doing this?"

He tried to struggle, but the trolls were way too strong.

"Because we are mean and nasty, cunning and deceitful and right now, as you are our prisoner, then Christmas is cancelled."

"You can't do that everyone has been so good."

"I know. I have had spies following the birds that deliver your letters and all the wishes. We have been aware and with it being the biggest in history really means that it will now also be the worst in history. All those tears, the tantrums. The hate for Santa and his elves. There will be no more good in the world, they will all be naughty and you will have no more good warmth coming to the north pole. You little town and workshop will cease to exist.

"You can't do this," he tried to protest.

"I can and I have. Tie the elves up. You Santa will be locked in your office. Call it solitary confinement. You cannot save things. We number in our thousands and no one will come to save the day. There is no one left. We have watched and ensured everyone comes to work each and every day. All came today. That means we have all of your workers. No one can save you now."

They were all bound and made to sit on the floor. The tools were taken and thrown outside. They would never be needed again. After this year there would never ever be another Christmas. Diggles was dragged from the floor and tied up and left outside. Many goblins now started to scour the town. They were greedy and naughty and started to raid the elves homes. Eating all their food and then as things started to become more settled started to watch television and drink all their Christmas cheer.

Diggles was still warm as all the young boys and girls had been good and the large 'N' on its long candy cane pole was bright. Yet he felt sad. As he knew that now the grey goblins and their henchman, the trolls, had taken over the workshop and their town, that all hope was lost and when no toys were delivered then there would be a nightmare that followed. This was a very sad day. What was he to do? Right now, nothing, as he was hung upside down and gagged.

**2**

Petra was still asleep. It was unclear how long she had slept for, but it was clear that it had been too much. Her body was all hunched over and feeling really stiff. She had only wanted forty winks, but it was too much. Eventually, after all most a day's sleep she woke up. Well not exactly. She rolled over as if she was in her bed, fell from her chair hit the floor and went.

"Ow."

That was it, she was awake and with a lump on her head too. She yawned, really still tired after all that sleep. Petra was not with it and shuffled around in the workshop of her house. Few came this way, so the mess on the floor, the cupboard, the desk, well everywhere, never got cleaned up. Her house was on the very outskirts of town. Some weren't even sure if it was a house. You see Petra's house was not like most peoples. It was a large workshop. She had a small area with a bed that she sometimes slept in. The rest was a large expanse full of this that and the other stuff that she couldn't remember what it was supposed to do. Well she needed to get new parts. That meant going to the workshop and tapping on the thingamajig to get them ordered. She had forgotten what the large ones called it. The big ones were those that they made all the gifts for. You see the elves weren't the largest of creatures, but they were the best workers in the whole world. Not many were so dedicated to doing a task or job as they were. That is why Petra had been working on her secret project for Santa. It was almost finished. Except that she had now just broken the part. That was not good. It would be a day for delivery in a few more weeks.

"I think they call this month December." Petra wasn't sure it had been a long year. She would be glad when this was all over a she would probably sleep until spring. Well she certainly needed to, but first she would need to walk to town and get the thingamajig up and running to order her parts.

It looked like it had been snowing. The ground was thick with snow. Then again when you lived at the north pole had it really snowed if you hadn't seen it fall. I mean it was white all the time. So, had it snowed? Or was it always this colour. She trudged along the road. Well it may have been a road, except there was snow everywhere. She ducked down the side of the first house and turned the next corner and stopped dead in her tracks. Why was Diggles hanging upside down outside the workshop? She wasn't close enough to be certain, but only one other person wore a hat like that, which was red and that was Santa. Diggles had been asked why he wore a hat like Santa. He had whispered to Petra, "Ssh don't tell everyone, but Santa said I'm his favourite." 

Now everyone knew that Santa would say that to everyone at some point throughout the year. At the time it did make you feel important and special, but when you learned that it was the same for everyone then the second year, he told you it didn't mean as much. Except for Diggles. He loved Santa even polished his boots. It would help if he allowed him to take them off first, instead of constantly following him around the workshop. Diggles was the kind of person who would do anything for anyone, but mostly for Santa. Except she still hadn't got a clue why he was upside down and how long had he been there. She was sure his head had turned red to match his hat and how had it stayed on his head?

Without thinking she started to walk down the street. Now Petra wasn't dress like the other elves. When they went to work in the factory, they all had to wear green. It was considered the festive colour. Except they wore it all year. Now Petra was different she wore overalls and they were most definitely not green. Actually no one knew what colour they were as they were always dirty. She was in and out of one project and onto the next without a thought for her appearance. Her long dark hair was always tied back and out the way. Her face always had one or more stains on it. Sometimes it was even hard to tell that she was a female elf. She didn't care the only one who really saw her was herself, when she looked in the mirror. Except that was dirty too. So, she could have been looking at a stranger.

Now she was walking down the street, apparently. With her hands in her pockets. Well one, the other was ripped and a little useless. Now she saw them. Who were they? No was that... Yes, it was a large troll tapping Diggles and making him swing backwards and forwards. To and fro. Poor Diggles, but then it hit her. Why were trolls here? Santa didn't have dealings with trolls? Did he? She was rarely in the factory or workshop, depending upon your point of view. Therefore, his associations might have been with trolls, but it still remained a mystery as to why Diggles was hanging upside down. Still casually walking down the street, in the open. She turned the next corner and froze. No, it couldn't be? Could it? Well it was, otherwise why would she have been questioning what she saw? In front of her, totally oblivious to her presence was a group of grey goblins. That was not good. What were they doing here? She knew that no one at the north pole had dealings with them this was not so good. Well the overalls had a wash, kinda. She dived in the front garden of the house nearby and lay in the snow. She parted the bushes as she lay there and watched as they walked down the street. Then she saw them go to the factory. Now they were talking to the trolls. No. The trolls were working for the goblins. This was even worse and why were they at the factory. Then she saw as another troll let him in. Think, think, think. She was saying in her head. Nope, no good. Her head was blank, which was a surprise as she would normally have a good idea. Slowly she got up from where she had been laying, a large dirty mark was now on the snow, from her overalls. Petra quickly ran across the next street. They weren't very wide. More like a very wide path. No vehicles came here only sleighs and sledges dodging around the back of the next house she stopped and watch. More goblins, how many were here? Really not good. Now she moved towards the next group and started to make her way to the factory. There was a ladder at the back. She knew that as she was the only who used it. The only time she was ever at the factory was to fix something. Otherwise she stayed in her own workshop, working on secret projects. That's what she liked to call them. She took her time climbing the ladder as there were several rungs missing. Perhaps one day she would fix the ladder. Staying low and creeping across the roof she peered down through the rooftop windows. They were a little dirty, maybe she should add to her list of things to do that they needed cleaning. She rubbed them with the forearm of her overalls. More dirt. Now she peered in and looked.

It really was not a pleasant sight. All of the elves had been tied up. The machinery had stopped and nothing was being completed for the very big day in a few weeks. One goblin was parading around giving orders. The gifts were being bagged up. Why? She continued to watch and wondered why they were here. Had they come to steal the presents? To what end? There was so much that she did not understand. All she knew, from what she saw, is that something was very wrong and the goblins and trolls should not be here.

"Get everything packed away," called Blasta.

All the gifts had to be removed and carted away. Considering they had cancelled Christmas, then he wanted everything taken away.

"What will you do with gifts?" asked the foreman.

"Burn them."

"You can't do that we have worked hard all year to make them."

"Not my problem."

"Why? You're a heartless beast."

Blasta looked at a troll and nodded. The troll then slapped the foreman across the face. He went to speak again and was slapped again. This time he remained quiet. No one would be interrupting again. Unless they wanted the troll to slap them too. Everyone was still wondering why Diggles had been dragged outside. They had all been tied up and made to stop work. This was not the way things worked here. As if the goblins cared about that. They didn't care if Christmas was cancelled. The idea was to upset the world and have all the children start to be naughty as they would receive nothing. Then they would hate Santa and the elves for not delivering. This was all part of the master plan. If they all thought that being good all year got them nothing, then no matter what, they would just be naughty and that is exactly what the goblins wanted a world full of naughty children. Who would grow and be naughty too? Santa would be out of a job as no one would ever be good again.

There were so many gifts to destroy. He couldn't believe that so many had been created. The interesting thing is that they all looked too small. Well there was a reason for that. The reason was that Santa's sack could only carry so many gifts and so he had to borrow some pixie dust to shrink each gift. That way every sack was filled with thousands of presents. It was so much easier getting down the chimney too. Once he was at the bottom, he would just blow the pixie dust off and the gift would enlarge. Simple really. The only problem right now was getting the thousands of sacks that were in the warehouse and the basement. Literally there were thousands of sacks. They were so close to their dead line that they were almost totally full. Well it was a good job that the goblin leader had brought an army with him. It took a small group of goblins to move just a few sacks. They had been marching in and out of the town since they arrived two days ago. The pile for burning would soon be large enough to light, but he didn't want to waste matches so was busy waiting until he had all of them removed. The goblins had been working around the clock and it still looked full, as it did the other day. This was going to take a lot longer than he had originally thought. How many of these urchins did he make gifts for? Surely there weren't that many in the world. Well there was close to two billion, so yes there was a lot of sacks and very small presents hidden in the workshop. The goblins were going to have a very hard few weeks. It might even take them into the new year to be able to destroy them all.

Petra had been watching all this time and saw that the factory front doors were open. She crept to the edge of the roof and lay down. Now she carefully peaked over the edge. It would seem that the area that she had first seen the goblins was the direction that the sacks were being dragged. That was not good. She would need to follow and see where they were actually taking them, but what she really needed was some help. There was no way that she would be able to take on a goblin army on her own. Those inside were too well guarded and Diggles. Well he was Diggles, but he was on the outside of the factory. She pulled back from the edge of the roof and rolled onto her back. This would need some careful thought. As much as she wanted more sleep this was not the time. Christmas was doomed, unless she came up with some help.

**3**

Well a lot of time had drifted by and she was still laid on the factory roof. The day had slipped by and the night had crept in. Time to get moving. What she didn't expect was all the activity on the streets. Did the goblins not sleep or had they just got that many here. Petra rolled around again, now that it was dark, they were less likely to see her. There was only one guard at the front entrance right now. Diggles was hanging in front, but at the end where he wasn't an obstruction when the doors were opened. She pulled back and left down the ladder. It was not easy to see the missing rungs and she nearly fell from the ladder. There was a tool shed at the back here. She wasn't allowed to keep her equipment in the factory.

"No that just would not do," is what she had been told.

Well she didn't mind it being kept here where she preferred to be and that was doing her own thing. She had her own way of contributing to the completion of gifts at the end of the year. Assuming she had been able to get the final part working. Now it looked like that would not happen. Her surprise for Santa would have to wait. Her friends, yes including the foreman, were all in need of help. Although it was unclear how she would be able to assist them. There were so many goblins. Right now, though her only concern was Diggles. He was nice to everyone and didn't deserve to be treated the way he was. Now she had what she wanted a long piece of rope and a knife.

Back on the roof she secured the rope around herself and then the other to whatever she could securely fix it to on the roof. Now she slowly started to descend. The troll was too busy to see her in the dark. There were no lights on the outside of the building. All that mattered was the light inside. As the gifts were stored inside too, then illumination outside was not needed. She could hear a noise as she got closer to Diggles. Was he snoring? Had he actually been able to sleep in that position. Now she tied the other end of the rope to his legs and then cut the one that had been suspending him. Now to climb back to the top. Petra was very strong for her small size and she was slowly hauling a sleeping Diggles to the factory roof. She just had to hope he remained asleep. The awkward part was the last bit. She gave a hard tug as he reached the top. He flipped up and over and landed on the roof, hard. That was not good. Now she had to wake him fast. No good. She slapped him. Still no good. Well there was only one thing for hit she slapped him and slapped him.  
"Is it morning already?"

"No, you idiot. I'm rescuing you."

Now me opened his eyes.

"Pet..."

A hand went over his mouth.

"Shut up and get down the ladder and be careful, I still haven't replaced the missing rungs."

Well what she hadn't counted on was that he had no circulation to his legs for some time. I mean have you ever tried to walk on jelly? Well that is what Diggles legs felt like and he was unable to stand. This was not something she needed right now. The two of them had to move quickly and he was effectively crawling to the ladder. His legs just wouldn't function. Petra went first she had to ensure they weren't heard and if they were, then they would be in trouble. Diggles did his best, the circulation was very slow returning to his legs and he had also been woken from his sleep. Both were not a good combination. Now she watched as he came down.

"The rung," she whispered.

He missed it as he was unable to feel it properly, but was able to recover. Diggles was sure he had some feeling in his feet, but alas he was wrong the next rung he didn't realise about. He missed it and slipped. His weight hit the one below. There was a crack as it snapped. Now he hit the rung below and so on they were snapping. The wooden ladder was very old and could not take the punishment. Each rung was hit by his weight and his hands were not good with the friction burns he received as he continued to slip and fall. He landed on his back.

"Ouch," was all he managed.

Petra did her best to help him to his feet. She had to hurry. The noise and his calling out as he slipped had alerted the goblin guards. She wrapped her arm around him and supported him as best as he could.

"Petra, I didn't know you cared," he said.

"Shut up or I will hit you with a hammer."

"Aww, you say the nicest things."

Nothing seemed to faze him. There was a problem though. As he was unable to support himself it was not easy to move as she had to take his full weight. It was so good she was strong. The problem was, is that when he stepped forward his legs went everywhere. They fell through a picket fence. Knocked over the trash cans. Destroyed something else and landed on the roundabout in the playground. Bad idea.

"Whee!" cried Diggles.

Over here cried a guard. That was it, out came the hammer. Now she hoisted him over her shoulder. Why hadn't she just done this in the first place. They would not have been heard then. Now she moved quicker, even with his weight over her shoulder it was still quicker for her to run with him.

She wasn't sure where to go all she could do was keep moving. There were goblins in the streets looking for Diggles. They probably hadn't realised that he had help, which was good. If it got really bad, she would just have to dump him and run away. He was already a prisoner once. What was the worst that could happen to him if he was caught? Right now, the thought of him being able to assist her is all that kept her from not dropping him.

She had to stop and hide. He was still out cold. Diggles would have one bad headache in the morning. Well she did warn him and it had been quicker. The only thing she could do was go back to her place it was just out of town and didn't look like a house. Hopefully they would not think to disturb her there. Now she had caught her breath she picked him up again and continued to walk to her place. This was not an easy task, but was necessary. She still had to be careful as they were still the sounds of them searching. The only thing she was thankful for right now was that it was very dark across the town. It was rare to see any light, unless it came from a house, but as they were all locked up in the factory then it was pitch black.

Back at her place she laid Diggles on her bed. She felt sorry for having slapped him with her hammer so hard, but they were both safe. At least for now. She too was very tired and found a corner to sleep. It had been a tiring time and carrying Diggles had not helped. She woke sometime after dawn. The first thing she wanted to do was check on Diggles. The problem was he wasn't there. Perhaps he had been hungry. The rest of her place was upstairs. Only her bed was on the ground floor as she had a tendency to work late. She looked around; it wasn't that it was a large area to check either. This was worrying. Diggles was nowhere to be seen. Now she was starting to panic. After her efforts the day before he had vanished. There was only one place he could be. That was outside. She went to windows and peered out; just be sure no goblins were around. The ground was still covered in snow. There didn't seem to be any sign of any one around. She stepped outside, but remained cautious. It was not clear as to whether anyone was lurking and watching so she was being extra careful after last night. She presumed that the goblins would be looking for Diggles. After all he was the one who escape, not her.

She crouched and looked at the ground. There were her tracks leading to the house and then she found the tracks leading away. Those must be Diggles. Well they weren't hers. She was not sure if he was going to his house for food or not, but the tracks looked like they were heading in that direction. It was all she could think of. Why else would he go that way? That was something else she needed to add to her list of things to do. Stock the cupboard with food. She was almost out of everything, literally everything. That must be why he had left. She would have to be careful as he was on the other side of town. Also, she would have the problem of crossing where the goblins were taking the sacks out of town.

Petra hid and waited. There was no pattern to how the goblins moved up and down the street. It would seem some groups were quicker than the others. Eventually she was able to run across the street, but only just, it had been quite an ordeal.

"Diggles," she called, as she entered his house.

Diggles had been up since before dawn. Besides the cleaning of the factory there was one more thing that he had to do each day and for the last two days he had failed in that duty and now he was free and able to perform that task. He had got up early and for some strange reason his heard hurt. Diggles did remember falling from a ladder. That one very, very important task was what he considered to be the most important of all of his tasks and that was to look after and feed Santa's reindeer. The ones that he used to have had now retired and were elsewhere now. Once he had looked after them too. They had not been fed for several days and that was wrong. The trolls had been nasty and had prevented him from being able to do his most important job. There had been much to do and he was tired and his head really hurt. He was asleep on his bed right now.

**4**

Petra hadn't waited until Diggles woke. In the meantime, she had been watching the activity in the area and it was very concerning. She had no clue as to how many sacks were actually contained in the factory, but the goblins had not stopped all day. Petra had crept along the hill that was close to where the goblins were taking the sacks. She stayed laying down and peaked her head over the top of the ridge and looked to see what they were doing. It looked like there was some sort of a hole. It didn't make sense to her why they would be intending to bury the gifts. This was most strange. Slowly as she watched the sacks started to grow higher than the hole could contain. It would seem that they had miscalculated the amount of sacks that Santa had to deliver every year. Petra was about to leave and check on Diggles when she saw trolls arriving. They had not been around until now. Their actions soon made it clear as to the goblin intentions as they were carrying long lengths of wood and were laying them over and around the sacks of gifts. The goblins were intending to burn all of the gifts. This was not good. She had been wanting to discuss the situation with Diggles regarding those trapped in the factory. It had not been possible before; he had not been in any fit state to talk to her. Then with him vanishing, that was still a mystery. Unless he had just wanted to go home. Right now, he was the only one she had that could aid her. The rest of the elves were confined and unavailable. That would have to be dealt with later. She needed him to try and assist with the present problem if they set that fire alight there would be a lot of disappointed people.

It took a little while to get back to Diggles place. The goblins were very active during the daytime. Even though they were around at night it was not as bad as the day. Diggles was up when she got back to his place. She didn't even knock, just let herself in. The noise of knocking might attract too much attention.

"Aargh!" came the reaction from Diggles.

"Shut up. Do you want to alert the goblins?"

He just hadn't expected to see her appear.

"Anyway, what happened to you? I woke and you were gone."

"My job," he said, looking at her.

"The factory is shut, or did you forget with being hung upside down for a couple of days."

"That is why I went to do my job."

Now she had a puzzled look on her face.

"You really don't have a clue what I do here in town?" he asked.

"You clean the factory," came her reply.

"That is just what I do in between my main job."

"Okay, fine. No, I didn't know, but do you forget that I rarely leave my little workshop."

"I didn't forget. When all the others turn up for work each day you are never there."

Petra was actually surprised that he noticed that. She stood for a moment and actually realised that she didn't really know a lot about anyone in the town. Most she knew, well there had been that one time when she called to someone and they gave her a funny look, but otherwise she was sure she knew most of their names.

"Then I am sorry for not knowing more about, well anyone really. I just realised that I have never really spoken to that many. Only in passing."

"I do the most important job in the town."

Petra would have liked to say that Santa had the most important job in town, but right now probably wasn't a good time.

"Which is?" she chose to ask.

"I look after Santa's reindeer."

Petra stood with her mouth open. She had completely forgot about the reindeer. Diggles thought her reaction was because of what he had said.

"Where are they?" she was probably more clueless than anyone, with what went on in this town.

"Down the track over the road."

"Let's go."

An idea was formulating in her head. Although it was only an idea and sometimes, as with the ideas of her creations, they didn't always go so well. Diggles was really surprised and led the way. Even though everyone knew of the reindeer the only one who saw them on a regular basis was Diggles. He didn't even look to see if the goblins were around. Then again, he did live on the edge of town like her, but on the opposite side. The snow was deeper here. They had a little area all to themselves. As there were nine reindeer, they had to have a large area to run around and a big large building where they all lived. Santa used to have other reindeer, but they had retired some time ago and were away elsewhere. These were a new and different bunch of reindeer and no less dedicated than those who had the job before.

Diggles opened the door to their home. Inside were several reindeer. The back doorway was open and Diggles immediately realised that one was missing. Probably having a run around the enclosed field. That would be Sprinter. Well he would just have to introduce the others too.

"Well this one is Buck," said Diggles, starting the tour. "He got his name, because he threw Santa once. This one is Bounce as he will not stop bouncing and moving around."

Petra noticed something peculiar about Bounce. He seemed incredibly active. Almost hyperactive in the way that he just would not stop and was incessantly moving all the time.

"This is Blazen and Lightbulb."

"Will you stop putting that nose of yours in my face," shouted Blazen, he had quite a temper at times.

Now Lightbulb couldn't help it. He was a descendant of a certain retired reindeer with a red nose. However, he had a bright white nose, hence how he had acquired his name. It was incredibly noisy as they reached the next stall. Headbanger had cranked up the volume and was slamming his head backwards and forwards. The music had drowned out their approach. As they walked through the reindeer's home, she was starting to see that they were all acting a little strange. Diggles was continuing to introduce them all. Glitz was passed out on the floor in the next stall. His was covered in rather bright, multicoloured fabric, but it was unclear why. Next was Nuts.

"It's here, it's here. I know it is."

He was darting around, from corner to corner of his stall, a little skittish. It was as if the reindeer were all on something. They were all acting exceptionally peculiar. The last one inside was Princess. She was the only female reindeer and seemed to be wearing a long blonde wig.

"Hello, there," she said.

Princess was the least weird of the reindeer. However, she was wearing high heeled shoes and from the look of the back of her stall had a closet that was filled floor to ceiling with shoes.

"How many?" exclaimed Petra.

"My dear girl a Princess, such as myself can never have to many accessories and I do have four feet."

Diggles had already moved on and it was the first time that she noticed that Diggles was concerned. Sprinter was racing around and around in a circle. It was as if he was unable to stop. The poor reindeer had been running so hard and fast that he had started to wear a groove into the surface of the ground.

"Diggles what is wrong with all of the reindeer," she eventually said, after she had been able to catch Sprinter and hold him, to stop him from continuing.

"I have no idea. They were fine earlier. I cleaned up. Then fed them something special, as I had been unable to come by for a few days."

That was strange what could have made them this way.

"What did you feed them?" she asked.

Petra had noticed that the very long and large feeding trough was completely empty.

Then she spied the empty sacks on the ground. There must have been at least twenty large sacks that had a single word written on the front 'candy'.

"Please tell me that this wasn't their special meal?"

"Yes."

That was all Diggles said.

"Yes, it was or yes it wasn't?"

"They missed me."

"We need to give them all some water to drink quickly."

Petra grabbed a bucket and went to the water trough and stopped dead in her tracks. The water was fizzing. Having seen all the empty sacks, she had here suspicions and dipped her finger in the surface of the liquid in the trough and then licked it.

"LEMONADE," she shouted.

That was it her outburst caused a chain reaction. Blazen started to argue with her telling her off for shouting at Diggles. Headbanger didn't like all of the shouting and the volume shot up rapidly. He was now thrashing his head backwards and forward. He was so high on sugar as were all of the rest of the reindeer. Each and every one of them were experiencing a sugar high. This was not good. Nuts was now frantically out of control as he searched for something. The reindeer were starting to gang up on her. Diggles had never had this kind of reaction when giving them candy in the past. Although it was only a treat then and not a meal, just one or two. The effect was overwhelming. Petra was doing her best to push past them all with an empty bucket to get out side. The water butt out back was frozen over and as she went to slam something into the ice on the top, that was when she heard the thud. Sprinter had collapsed, twitched twice and then passed out. Headbanger had momentarily lost his concentration and slammed his head into the side of his stall and then hit the ground. Petra immediately dropped the bucket and went rushing back inside to aid Diggles who was now over concerned about what he had done and now Headbanger had cut his head. He was beside himself. The one job that meant the most to him, he has just failed at. The noise was becoming too much, as Diggles knelt on the ground and picked up Headbangers bleeding head.

"I am so sorry," Petra heard him say.

She reacted. The hammer in her hand smashed the ice and she came storming in with an ice-cold bucket of water and threw it over all the screaming and ranting reindeer. The effect was almost immediate. It was so cold that they all seemed to freeze on the spot. Their eyes were wide, although it was unclear if that was a reaction from the shock of the ice or the sugar high they had been experiencing. Petra then went to aid Diggles. She could see that he was very upset. Right now, nothing that she could say would make up for what he had done. He loved the reindeer too much and had felt really bad that he had not been there to take care of them and now one was hurt. It felt bad before, but now he felt worse.

"You did what you thought was right to say sorry," said Petra.

Diggles hadn't moved. He had been holding Headbanger all this time and had no intention of moving. Petra got up and went to deal with the others. They may have only been up a short time, but were all now exhausted from their over excited state and were all sleeping. The problem of the gifts being prepared for destruction had slipped her mind. Diggles and the reindeer needed her right now.

**5**

Petra had fallen asleep in the stall where she was. A whole day had passed. Diggles had been too sad to do anything. His only concern had been to help the reindeer. When Petra had fallen asleep, he had laid down Headbangers head next to her and got started. The stables where they lived were all cleaned out properly. The remainder of any candy was dispensed with and the trough was replenished with water. He had gone a little over board. This was a serious situation with Santa and the rest of the elves being locked up. By the time Petra woke up everything was as it should be and the rest of the reindeer were doing much better. Sprinter was still a little tired and Headbanger had opened his eyes and was awake, but with such a headache. Petra didn't look good with all the straw in her hair. She could see that there was a big change.

"You said yesterday that you needed help," said Diggles.

"Yes."

"Well they are all in."

She looked around every one of the reindeer were looking at her.

"Then I guess we need to get started. Headbanger and Sprinter will have to rest more. The rest of you seem able."

"I can help," objected Sprinter.

"I know, just not today."

She explained what she had found out about the big hole and that they were intending to burn all of the gifts. The goblins were definitely intending to destroy Christmas. Not being in the factory at the time of the invasion and seizure she was unclear of what their intentions were, or even if they had actually been revealed. Diggles had no clue as he had been taken outside. Princess laid her head on his shoulder when she heard about what they had done to him. Sprinter may not be able to participate right now, because he loved to run everywhere, he was usually always in the large enclosed field at the back of their home. He had seen when the hole had first been used, but was unaware of the incident and had not realised why it was there. Only that in the twilight of each day there was only one troll on duty. It must either be a rest or break period for the goblins.

Petra went with Diggles to check things out. The reindeer had to be ready once they had a plan. For now, they had to stay put and look after their recovering friends. They reached the hole. Diggles knew of a better way as he would sometimes take the reindeer for a walk on the weekends. It was something that he did so that they didn't see the same old field. Considering they were only needed once a year, it was a task in itself to keep them entertained. He led her through a wooded area. The leaves had gone many months ago and they were all bare and looked miserable in the cold air, as it ran through the empty branches as if taunting and teasing them. The trees seemed unperturbed by the wind and welcomed the additional company the thin branches on the end moved and tapped one another. It was as if the trees knew who they were and acknowledged them.

Diggles had led her this way as he knew the trees could give them cover. The reindeer would have been noticed easily, but would the trolls and goblins realise, which reindeer they were or would they just be considered to be wild ones. Well having seen the display yesterday in the stables. Then the wild reindeer would be tame by comparison. Petra had seen a whole new side to the reindeer in their own environment. The two of them hid behind the trees and watched. It was clear that they were definitely looking to burn the gifts as a proper bonfire had been constructed around the sacks now. You could hardly see them. There was a much larger forest in the opposite direction to where they were. It was easy to see that is where they had taken the wood from as the tracks in the snow had made a wide clearing.

"Well what do you plan on doing?" asked Diggles.

"We need to stop them and get the presents away from the hole."

"It has taken an army of goblins to get those there in the last few days. How do you expect us to get them moved and not be seen?

"Not sure yet, but I do know that if we don't come up with a way to save them. Then Christmas will not be the same."

The two sat for a while as they thought about the situation. It was Diggles who spoke first.

"Santa has all the presents sprinkled with pixie dust to shrink them, so that he can transport many at once."

"I know that, but he collects from the pixie's during the spring and summer months when they are the most active. Right now, it is too cold for them to do anything to aid us. Plus, they don't live here in the north," said Petra.

"That is not what I was leading to."

"Can't we use the dust to make them smaller to transport them quicker."

She looked at him. It was an interesting thought, but there was one problem.

"You do realise that once the gifts have been shrunk, they can't be shrunk again."

He smiled at her. Very few recognised that Diggles had other qualities, because he looked after the reindeer and cleaned up in between, didn't mean that he wasn't clever. The only job that he was able to do at the factory was the cleaning. As it could be left to look after the reindeer, if necessary. Most tended to look down upon him. Or at times avoid him, as he sometimes still smelled from his stable duties. Now he said something very interesting.

"But the sacks have never been shrunk before."  
A new plan was formulating in her head. It would not be easy to do. She was aware that the town was occupied by the goblins. What she needed to do was learn where Santa kept the pixie dust.

"That is a wonderful idea, Diggles," she said. "One thing though. Where does he keep the dust?"

"At his home. There was kind of an accident, so he does not keep it at the factory anymore."

His eyes were avoiding hers. It was obvious that he had been involved. The two crept back from the trees. Petra just had to know.

"What happened with the dust, that your trying to hide."

He didn't answer. Petra dug her elbow into his ribs. Trying to encourage him to talk.

"You remember how Santa had to have new clothes and boots for the end of the year and then a new sleigh."

"Yes. Why?"

"Well the model sleigh and the Santa replica that are on the shelf in my home are the old items. I thought I could make the sleigh sparkle when cleaning it and I had also washed his clothes too. I didn't know that it was pixie dust. The effect was permanent."

Petra had a smile on her face and then the two of them started to laugh. Even with all the problems they faced. This was the first real conversation that she had with another elf. The work and creations she had been working on had taken all of her time. It was a pleasant change and one that she was enjoying. There was so much more to Diggles than she had expected. The two of them headed back to the stables. Bounce was stood waiting at the entrance. He had taken it upon himself to keep watch. The others had been inside. Sprinter was looking better and desperately wanting to assist.

"Well," they said.

All the reindeer turned and stared at them.

"It doesn't look good, but I think we have a plan," said Petra. "However, to do this will take all of us."

The reindeer liked that they were to be involved. Petra went through a few details. She and Diggles had discussed a few other things on their walk back. It helped that the stables were not in town. Now they were going through the details. Headbanger was wanting to get involved too. Diggles removed his bandage. The wound had sealed, but there was still a bump there. He had taken quite a blow. Petra looked at his head and shook her head.

"We will see if it has improved tomorrow, for now you stay here. Sprinter and Bounce you have the first watch on what the goblins are doing. Try and not get caught, pretend you are wild reindeer. I doubt that will be too hard after the other day. Although that was a little too much."

Petra and Diggles had gone to Santa's house. His house was at the other end of town. The factory was the central focal point of the town. It was where all that was important about their lives took place. Even though he had his house here no one really came here as he was mostly at the factory and worked very long hours. However, there was always one person at the house, Mrs Claus. She was always seen around the town. Even though most worked at the factory. Others still tended to other duties, but this year had been an exceptional year and those other duties had to be put on hold. Everyone, except Petra and Mrs Claus hadn't been at the factory for many months now. As the extra labour was required, she had taken to doing extra work around the town. Peoples laundry, food preparation and tending to the gardens for others. It wasn't easy and took time. On the day that the goblins had come she hadn't even left to do chores. She had baked prior to leaving for the day and was going to drop off a considerable number of cookies for all of the elves at the factory. It was something that she did at times.

On the day they came she had been too busy. Knowing who she was several trolls had been taken to the house. Mrs Claus had been the first one to be seized. They had struck early so that she was not on the streets as the goblin army prepared to take the factory. If she had been out then she would have seen them coming and no doubt raised the alarm. The cookies never made it to the factory. However, they were used eventually. As the goblins left two trolls in charge of her. Now Mrs Claus knew that the goblins had manipulated the trolls into aiding them. She was still a kind person, regardless of the fact that she had been captured and she did like helping people. She had been doing her best to look after all of the elves needs, as they worked so hard. The trolls that had come to guard her, had soon become accustomed to receiving cookies every day. They were not mean to her, even though they guarded her. The goblins had placed two there initially, but it had soon dwindled down to one as their plans got underway. Now she baked for just one. He kind of liked the smell of fresh baking. Her front door had been sealed and he always slept on the back doorstep. It was impossible for her to escape. He was always there. She knew, that as much as she would like to have helped, that it was not possible. The troll had become quite friendly and slowly she had come to learn of things in the town. It was interesting what a few freshly baked cookies and kind words could achieve.

**6**

Petra and Diggles were hidden between two houses. This was not good. They could see that a large board and the remnants of a tree had been placed across the front door. They would need a chain saw and all of the reindeer to clear that front door. That was not a good idea as it would create too much noise. The two of them crept along the back of the houses in the area, to find a way across the street. There was some activity, but was only really goblin patrols on this side of town.

Having crossed they stayed low behind the hedges and worked their way to the back of the Claus residence. They didn't like what they saw, the Troll was stood at the back door, but they could see Mrs Claus in the kitchen, she was busy baking. It helped her with the situation to keep busy. Petra found a small pea sized pebble and gently tossed it at the window of the kitchen. The troll was too busy munching on cookies to pay the little tap any attention. Mrs Claus had not reacted. She scrambled around for another one. Diggles gave her a nudge and handed her some large seeds from his pocket. She didn't ask why he had seeds in his pocket. This was not the time and so she threw several at the window.

It sounded like hail had just hit the window. Mrs Claus looked around. She could just make out the crown of two heads behind the hedge at the bottom of the garden. They were sufficiently out of site, that the troll had not seen or heard them. Mrs Claus was so delighted to have two heads peek over the hedge that she recognised. She smiled and motioned with her hands to a ladder propped against the house. Then she disappeared from the kitchen. That was puzzling. They soon realised what she was doing when her head reappeared at the window above the ladder. Now it was clear as she opened it and left it off the latch, then she was gone again. Diggles was keeping his eye on the troll at the backdoor. Petra vaulted over the hedge and then crouched immediately.

"Go," whispered Diggles.

She quickly trotted to the ladder. Mrs Claus had been busy, but was being noisy in the kitchen. She had been deliberately putting cooking equipment away. Saucepans and other pans clattered as she put them away. Her intention was to mask Petra's movements in entering the house.

"Psst!" came the noise from the hallway.

Mrs Claus had put a finger to her lips. She then walked around the kitchen to the door and opened.

"Here you are dearie. A few more to help keep you warm, fresh out of the oven."

"Oo, ah, mm," came the sounds from the troll, as he scooped several up from the large plate, as his hands were large these were oversized cookies.

She shut the door again and the troll sat to eat. That hadn't been all of the cookies. Mrs Claus was so pleased to see them both that the majority had been bagged for them. She walked past Petra and led her to the living room. Then once the two were both there they gave each other a hug.

"I am so pleased to see you both. How is Mr Claus?"

"I have no idea and neither does Diggles. He was hanging outside the factory. I was able to free him, but it now means that patrols are everywhere. You should remember that I rarely go to the factory."

Mrs Claus just smiled.

"We know that they intend to burn all the gifts. They have made a bonfire on the opposite side of town to you. I have Bounce and Sprinter keeping watch on them." Mrs Claus was surprised that they hadn't also seized the reindeer too. Petra explained the reason why she was there and that she needed the pixie dust for when she rescued the presents.

"It isn't here. He just led everyone to think that. It is in his old office down the end of the street. Its locked in his desk draw. I have the key. That is all he keeps here, but I believe that Blasta has been snooping around down there, but anything other than the pixie dust is kept in the factory."

"I remember that much. He closed the office, because the factory became inundated with gift requests. He couldn't run both places."  
"You two be careful, but you should get going the troll eats really quickly. Here," she said, handing her the large bag of cookies, "take these for you and Diggles. Now hurry."

Petra nodded and was upstairs as quickly and quietly as she could. She had no idea how sensitive his hearing was and needed to get out there as quickly as possible. Diggles had remained as hit post, but had been starting to get worried the troll had started to become restless and he had no idea why. Petra was half way down the ladder when the troll put his nose to the air and was sniffing. He was able to smell the cookies that Petra was carrying. They too were freshly baked and still warm. He could probably have smelt them a mile away.

Diggles didn't know this, only that the troll was walking towards the back garden. Petra would not be able to escape in time. There was only one thing to do. It was the stupidest thing, but right at that moment it was all he could think of to save her. Diggles stood up.

"Hello," he said.

The troll took one look at him and Diggles bolted in the opposite direction to Petra. Now, all knew that he had somehow escaped, but no one was aware of Petra. Diggles was trying his best to protect her. He ran as quickly as he could. The troll may not be quick on speed, because of his size. Yet he had a large stride and was soon gaining on him. Diggles dived over a picket fence and rolled in the snow. That was deliberate as it was clinging to his body. The cold air didn't allow for it to melt quickly. The troll just charged straight through the fence. It collapsed and then shattered as he trod on it. There were only a few patrols on this side of town, but none were in sight right now.

Petra had heard him stand up and greet the troll. At the time she had no idea she was at risk. Then she saw Diggles bolt with the troll right behind him. There was nothing she could do. Right now, she was holding the most valuable key in the whole town. If she was caught with that, they really would be trouble. She didn't want to leave Diggles to defend for himself, but the two were already out of sight by the time she was at the bottom of the ladder. She knew that once Diggles had lost the troll he would return to the stables. That is what she needed to do right now. Plus, they were probably getting hungry again. What she still didn't understand is where he had hidden the candy that hadn't been used. She had seen none after he had cleaned up. Nonetheless she could get caught with this key and needed to move quickly and cautiously out of town and back to the reindeer.

Diggles was having trouble with the troll. He had dived over about six fences so far. The troll kept coming he was relentless in his efforts and would not stop chasing him. Diggles was still working towards his plan. This was the easiest way to try and move around and achieve his goal. Slowly his body had been amassing snow. He was almost covered head to toe. He calculated that he needed at least two more fences. There wasn't a lot he could do about the damage in his wake. Hopefully everyone would forgive him. Then again how would they know. No one could see from the factory. The windows were too high up to look out. Besides, he had dived over, the troll was the one who broke them.

That was it he was now covered from head to toe in snow. It had stuck to him very well and now he ran away from the houses and out into the open and still the troll followed. Diggles didn't need to dodge or dive right now. It was like chasing a moving snowman. That was where he had got his idea from and then he saw the trees that he was aiming for, he ran quickly through and dived into the nearest ditch. The troll slammed through the trees and even knocked a thin one over. Diggles remained quiet as he lay there. His body matched the land around him. The troll emerged and looked in all directions. He never thought to check for footprints or anything like that. Whoever he had seen had mysteriously vanished. It suddenly occurred to him that he was now away from where he should be.

Mrs Claus had sneaked out. There was only one phone in the town and that was at the post office. It was considered to have at least one. The Santa hotline had become too much of a headache. Even on boxing day they had calls to place next year's gifts. Now they only had one line and a large team to sort the mail. It was so much easier, but she had just made a quick phone call. The troll was returning. When he arrived back, she was stood on the back doorstep. He stopped when he saw her. In her hand was another plate of cookies.

"Here you go, dearie," was all she said.

Petra had made it back to the stables. As soon as she entered Buck's nose was in the air.

"Do I smell cookies?"

That was it, the bag was snatched from her hand. It split its sides and the contents were all over the floor. The aroma immediately filtered across the rest of the stables.

"Hey," she called. "They were for Diggles and I."

Several heads lifted each mouth had a cookie in it. After that quick glance they were back to eating again.

"Sugar," called Petra.

"But Mrs Claus made these," said Glitz. "You can't say no to Mrs Claus cookies. She makes the absolute best in town."  
Well that was true no one could make better than her, but she had a lot of practice over the years. Considering how busy they got close to the end of the year. Her oven was always on. Well certainly when no chores were being done and as always, as soon as one batch was complete another was then thrown in. Even Petra found it hard to argue, but now she had none as the greedy reindeer had stolen them and were quickly munching their way through the contents of the bag. Petra was stood by the partially open door of the stables. There was no sign of Diggles she just hoped he was alright.

Diggles waited several minutes before moving. It was cold lying there and he didn't want to wait any longer than he had to. Lifting his head, he checked to see if the coast was clear. Now he got up and crept back to the trees. The troll was nowhere to be seen. He started to slowly walk back to town. He had to be very careful though as it was very open where he was. There hadn't really been many options in planning his escape from the troll. But he had achieved it. Now he was heading back towards town it was the quickest way to get back. He was almost back to Mrs Claus, but then veered away towards his side of town. That was when he passed Santa's office a troll was guarding that too. He had seen them in other places too. They were like the sentries. Were they all posted around town looking for him?

**7**

The phone had been ringing. He was in the bath tub and was not too pleased. It had been a long year and all he wanted to do was a have a quiet moment to himself. He got out and his wet ears drooped down the side of his face. That was never a good look. The towel was wrapped around him and he answered this phone.

"This had better be good," he said.

Right now, he didn't fancy being polite. After all his time to rest and relax was being disturbed. He had been preparing for the next season. It was never long before it came around again. Now he his eyes went wide.

"Mrs Claus I am so sorry."

He couldn't get a word in edgeways. She was going on about something. Goblins, invasion, north pole, Santa confined and detained. There was too much water clogging his ears. He was only catching so much. Then the phone went dead.

It took him a moment to be able to comprehend everything that had been said, but then he was dressed and ready in a matter of moments. There was no time to waste. He needed to get everyone else. This was the direst situation in the history of celebrations. There was no way that he would allow this to happen, if he could help it. He heads out of his home. Now he had to go to one of the scariest places. The graveyard, but he could only go when it was midnight. It was the only time that he could contact the others. Now you would think who could be here that he needed and who would he want to find in such a place. Well those in the north pole was up against those who would do considerable harm. However, those here were more of a fun and friendly nature. Who as much as anyone wanted to enjoy certain things? Having fun along the way was important. All had something in common. They provided a time of fun and entertainment. That usually resulted in others receiving a gift, of sorts at least.

He had a long journey. If he picked up the pace then he would be there sooner than later, it was not something he did that often, but it was good that he had been keeping in shape. There was a considerable lot of things that he needed to do and now was not the time to think about what he needed to do for next year, but for those that were in need. This was about something far greater than his friends being in need it was about saving one special day that brought happiness and good cheer to others. Just like his and those he was about to find too. They were all of the same nature and breed.

Diggles had arrived back and was taking a rest. He had to take his time as he knew that he had been foolish to take on the troll. One wrong step and he could have been caught. Then Petra would have had to face them all on her own. Well she had the reindeer and he knew that at times they got excitable. He was back though. Petra was still stood at the doorway it was getting late. She knew that there would be fewer goblins around at night. Perhaps that is why it had taken him so long.

"Idiot," she said, punching him on the arm.

He looked at her and then his arm, "Your welcome."

That was enough. He was tired and wanted a cookie. Diggles knew what was in that bag and why the troll had gone looking. Although the thought of eating one of Mrs Claus' cookies isn't why he had done it. It was for Petra.

"Where are the cookies?" he said.

Petra folded her arms and looked in the direction of the reindeer.

"Someone, not mentioning any names couldn't wait and scoffed the lot."

Her eyes were slowly moving around the stables at all of the guilty parties concerned. She didn't need to say a single word as none of them would look at Diggles.

"I was so looking forward to one. I guess I need to go home and eat there and sleep too. I think you should rest too," he said, looking at Petra.

It had been a long day and he knew she was tired.

"I will walk with you and tell you what Mrs Claus said."

Diggles nodded and when he left, he locked the doors. It was safer that way. There was still the possibility that the goblins may one day venture there and look. That would not be good. He didn't want to think about what would happen to them. He learned something new as Petra let him know all of the details.

"Well we have a problem then as Santa's office is heavily guarded."

"A troll," she said.

He nodded. This was not getting any easier as each day moved onwards. The time was being reduced. They had no choice, but to act tomorrow. A day had been wasted. Having to constantly creep around your own town was not good. If only there was a way to be able to distract the goblins or even just the trolls. They would have to devise a way to get them looking the other way. Or at least not to be looking at them, so that they could get into the office. Mrs Claus certainly knew how to distract the trolls, but she was too well guarded. It was just luck today that had allowed them to be able to get into her house. It's a shame the reindeer had eaten all of the cookies. Some could have been used as bait with the troll.

Petra sneaked back to her workshop alone. She was trying her hardest to think of a way to deal with the situation. There was a small thought that came to mind, but would Diggles allow it. He was very protective of the reindeer, but it might be there only option. Sooner or later they would be involved. With or without them being allowed. They knew what this time of year meant, as much as the elves and Santa. You didn't exactly live in this town and not get into the spirit of things. It was just that kind of place. Their spirits ran high all the time and they would always be ready for the end of the year. This year had been the hardest ever known. It was not good how things had now turned out. She wasn't even sure if they had actually finished what was needed to complete all the gifts. If they all got burned, then no matter how many they could make then they would not be able to do anything about saving this special day. Someone would be let down. She was determined to do her best not to let it happen. It was still a little early for her to sleep and she stood looking around her workshop.

Now she had an idea and it would only work if Diggles agreed. Although if she was at the stables early and got the reindeer on her side then he would not be able to say no. Well she was hoping that he wouldn't be able to. Time to get to work. She gathered together all of the finest strips of wire he could. What she was attempting to make had to look right. If it didn't then anyone who looked too closely might become suspicious. The wire had been stripped down to the bare wire. She was able to fashion it into the way she wanted. There was nothing for her to be able to place it on to get it right. She found an old ball buried at the back of the workshop. Then a wooden broom pole and seriously strong glue. It was her own concoction. Things instantly stuck and dried within minutes of being used. Now she draped it over the top and continued working everything had to look right. Even though it might only get used the once it had to look the part. Nothing else would do.

The night was slipping by. Once the wire had been prepared and groomed to be just right it was time to create a power source. It had to be small and minute, but capable of actually providing a charge. She worked even harder. There was so much to do and so little time. The last thing to build was the remote device that could control what she had just created. Petra was yawning. Not a good sign. She had been working too hard. It was already midnight and the day would be upon her before she even got started. This was not going as quickly as she liked, but if she speeded things up too much then she would make a mistake. Less haste more speed. She kept reminding herself over and over. Especially every time she yawned.

Her bed wasn't too far away. That was one of the reasons why she had it in the workshop. Too many times she had fallen asleep at the work bench and too many times she had to repeat her work. Now it was ready, but it hadn't been tested. She was just too tired to continue. This was the best she could do in the short space of time that was available to her. She didn't even get to climb into bed. Petra just collapsed on top. The alarm clock went off just before dawn. Still half asleep she gathered everything then carefully packed everything away. If she damaged even the slightest thing it could fail than work. Some of her creations had a tendency to backfire, when that happened it could even become explosive. Well this only had a small amount of power, but hopefully enough to get the job done. She just had to hope that the part connecting to the wires was insulated enough. There wasn't even time to go over the creation before leaving. It was paramount that she got there before Diggles. It may be the wrong approach and he might not like her doing this behind his back, but to her the situation had to be resolved and time was running out. They had about two weeks. Was that even enough to achieve the goal? Had the goblins already won? Would all of their efforts be in vain? It was hard not to have these thoughts racing through her head. The goblins were already active. It was the twilight period and should have been quiet. Now she was starting to realise. This was the time they changed shifts. It was done during each twilight. This could be useful, but right now she needed to come each thing one at a time. She shouldn't get to far ahead in planning things. If this didn't work, they would have a serious problem.

Petra was ahead of schedule even though she had to avoid the goblins. It would seem at this time of day they were not the most organised. Perhaps because one shift was just waking the other was almost falling off their feet. She had a report from Bounce and Sprinter the day before whilst she had been waiting for Diggles. They were still moving the sacks. Perhaps the intention was to burn them all at once. The amount of days that they had been working they would no doubt be close to completion. After picking the lock she entered.

"Wake up," she said, nudging each and every one of them. "It's time to have a chat. I need to ask for your help."  
Help! That was one very important word to these reindeer. The most excitement they got each year was that one glorious night riding the skies. That only happened as he used fairy dust on that night. That was somewhere, but no one knew where he kept that not even Mrs Claus. Considering one year he found her floating on the ceiling as she couldn't reach the top of the tree. She was there for three days until the effect wore off. Mrs Claus was not amused. Yes, the things that Santa had to put up with. Mischievous elves and Mrs Claus, who were curious about all of his special magic powders.

**8**

Diggles arrived at the stables only to find that the lock was not in place. He pushed open the door fearing the worst. There they all were and in the centre was Petra.

"Did you do this?" he said, holding up the lock.

"Picked the lock."

"No, I would say this is definitely broken."

The lock was rattling as he jiggled it in the air.

"Okay, fine. So, I hit it with a hammer."

Now he noticed the faces of the reindeer. They were all looking at him.

"What's going on?"

"Petra has a plan?" said Lightbulb.

"And were all helping," said Blazen.

"Now hang on. Keeping watch is one thing, but helping out," he stopped. "With what exactly."

"You told me about the situation at the office. We need a distraction and the two of us can't do this alone. We need help and they want to help."

Diggles was in an awkward situation. He had all of them looking at him. Sighing he turned to Petra.

"Let me hear the plan first. I need to know how dangerous it is."

She quickly explained the situation. The idea had come from Princess and how she so loved to wear her long blond wig and was always grooming it to look perfect. Well, Petra showed him what she had in her pack. He was not convinced, but she was right about one thing. The trolls would never harm the reindeer, in the past when they were here on friendly terms, they had liked petting them. Well perhaps she was right that if the troll saw one reindeer that they might soften enough to remember that. Especially as the goblins tended to be busy elsewhere. Petra took out what she had made for Princess to where. It was a copper wire wig. Only the finest wire had been used and looked so much like a real wig. Glitz immediately saw it and his eyes lit up.

"My that is such a wonderful wig."

He was unable to take his eyes off it as Princess tried it on. Now there was one thing that most didn't know about Glitz. When the others weren't around, he would sometimes sneak the use of Princess' spare wigs and parade around in one. Princess saw his face; she had known for a long time he liked to try on her wigs.

"I think that the best person for this job would be glitz," she said.

Having seen that look in his eye she knew that he would be perfect at this and she did remember how much he had loved the attention of the trolls. When they had been friendlier. She may be a pretty reindeer, but he had a certain charm about him, at times.

Petra and Diggles both looked at each other. Well Glitz's eyes were now wide with anticipation.

"Well do you think you can pull this off."

"My dear," said Glitz, "I was born for this."

The wig was placed upon his head and he even borrow some of Princess' shoes to add to the part. Well he had to have accessories too. He was set and did look sort of charming.

Glitz strutted down the street towards the centre of town. Diggles and Petra were moving quickly and quietly behind the houses on his left. Surprisingly Glitz seemed to have no trouble whatsoever walking in Princess' shoes. The goblins were still moving up and down the main street, to and from the factory. There were still some patrols, but they had now started to co-ordinate their efforts where Diggles was last seen.

Now, Glitz approached, the troll who was at the office. The troll had noticed the reindeer walking down the street towards him. The sight of him in a copper wig and high heels had no effect on him at all. Glitz walked closer as the troll had made no effort to call out or try and stop him. Diggles had told him to run at the first sign of trouble. Well if he had to run in the high heels, that could prove a problem.

"Well, hello there," said Glitz. "Aren't you handsome."

Glitz got a little closer and stood almost right next to the troll.

"And so very strong too."

The trolls were incredibly strong and their muscles bulged. Sometimes it looked like their biceps would even burst when they had been working. Now Glitz moved even closer. Then the troll started to soften as Glitz raised his eyes up and looked at the troll.

"Aww," went the troll and raised his hand.

Diggles was thinking that the troll had twigged it was a ruse and was going to hit Glitz. Then the troll placed his hand on the back of Glitz and started to stroke him.

"My what strong hands you have," said Glitz, enjoying the moment.

Suddenly the troll stroked the end of the wig. Oops! He accidentally stroked a little too hard. Several of the copper wires came loose. Petra had never expected to have this happen. The lights on her doodad gadget started to flash.

"Uh oh," she said.

"What does that mean?" asked Diggles.

Glitz felt a tingling sensation down his back as the troll continued to stroke him. That was not, because of the troll. The wig had started to come loose. The wires had now started to cause and electrical short and there was a slight fluctuation in the power source. Then the troll caught the wig again. There was a flash the wires all shot out straight. The troll was not expecting such a jolt and was blown backwards through the front door. Glitz hit the floor.

"Oh, my," and that was it, as he passed out.

The insulation that Petra had placed on the wig had protected him from the shocking. The troll had received a full dose. It wasn't how she had planned it, but the effect was the same.

"You never mentioned anything about that," said Diggles.

"Didn't I," she said. "Must have slipped my mind. Let's go they may have heard that door crashing in. At least they didn't need to break in. She had brought her hammer. The two had to move quickly. Diggles looked down at Glitz.

"Leave him we don't have time we will collect him on the way out."

She was already climbing over the troll. He was too large to step over. Fortunately, he was out cold. It had certainly been a good jolt. She raced into the office and opened the draw. This was unexpected. There were two jars. Both had labels, but over the years had faded. She had no clue what was written on each one. Grabbing both she stuffed them into her bag. There was no telling how long they had. Diggles was still coming in when they were leaving.

"Come on," she said. "Stop messing around."

Now they were back outside. There was still the problem of Glitz. He was too large to lift and move. They really needed the rest of the reindeer, but that would take time. Then an idea came to her. She got Diggles to hold her pack and she took out one of the jars. He realised what she was able to do.

"Not too much. We don't want him to vanish in the snow."

She tossed just a few specks of dust onto Glitz. That wasn't what they had expected to happen. Both of their eyes were wide as they looked at each other. She looked at the jar and could just make out the writing 'fairy dust'.

Petra sealed it quickly and put it in her pack. Now the two of them were pushing a floating glitz along the street and out of town. They couldn't rush for fear of him suddenly being blown away. They returned and met up with the others. All were surprised to see him floating. The problem was is that there was nothing they could do about it. Fortunately, the advice from Diggles had been good, as only a small amount had been used. They would have to wait until it wore off. He was tied up in his stall, just so that he didn't accidentally drift out of the door. Now they had to go and check on the others. Bounce and Sprinter were still on duty watching the bonfire proceedings.

The two of them crept up behind them. It was safer than approaching from any other direction.

"Well," said Petra, "anything to report?"

"They have been coming less and less. We think they may have finished or very close."

"Then we don't have much time left," said Diggles.

"Maybe none. You and I need to sneak in there from the opposite side and start to remove the sacks."

"Good job I brought a few of these. I always have to keep some at the stables."

Diggles had brought several sacks with him. Petra didn't even know he had made some preparations of his own, or even noticed the pack on his back. Now they started to sneak around. It would take some time as the land was relatively open. All there was really was snow and ice. Not too far away was a lake that had frozen over. Not a very large one, but it was there. The snow tended to blow across its surface. If you didn't know where it was then you ran the risk of stepping on to its surface, which was not exactly the most stable at times. For some reason it only ever seemed to get a relatively thin layer of ice, which meant that if too much weight was applied to the ice it would crack and eventually lead to breaking. The thought of the icy cold water beneath was not one they wanted to experience. Diggles led the way as he was used to walking out here with the reindeer. It was one of the places they came. The lake was usually thawed in the spring and summer months, so made for a nice place to visit. Not that it was overly warm always living at the north pole, but you enjoyed what you could from what was on offer.

Reaching the back of the bonfire they sneaked in closer. This was not something they were used to doing. Life was so much easier than when you were invaded by an army of goblins, out to destroy Christmas.

"How much does Santa use?" whispered Petra.

Diggles shrugged his shoulders. He had only ever seen how he applied it. Not how much was used each time. Petra took some out with her fingers and was able to toss it forward onto the sacks. Diggles grabbed her arm.

"Wait," he said, "Santa usually puts it on his palm and blows."

Petra wasn't really clear if it made a difference, but too much was at risk. She followed what Diggles said and blew the dust from her hand and yes, she had been careful enough to read the correct label. The other jar was hidden in the stables. It was a risk having this on her, but if anything happened to the other jar, they would have major problems. There was a slight rumble as the sacks started to shrink and the weight above them started to shift.

"I think you used too much," said Diggles.

They sack's above looked very unstable. The whole of the rear side and almost completely shrunk. Now on the floor were a pile of miniature sacks. They were small enough to sit on the palm of your hand. What they had no clue about, was the gifts inside, which had already been shrunk and the effect of something around them shrinking. All they knew is that they had to save the presents. Then it was time to try and free the others. Once Santa was free then he could deal with everything. Their prime concern was this right now. It wasn't long before they had filled their sacks. They stayed to ensure that all of the small gifts were in a sack they had. The ones they had were black so it was easy enough to see the difference. They were unable to take all of them. It would mean several trips. Except they had less sacks to move. Things seemed to be going fine at the moment. Not that there was time to consider the possibility of failing. The two of them worked hard and quickly. They were unsure about how much time they had available before the goblins finished emptying the factory. Every second counted.

**9**

It came to a point that it was soon dark. Surprisingly enough the bonfire was now only being guarded by one troll. Did that mean they had finished? Perhaps it was too dark for them to set it alight. The problem they had was that it was too dark to do anything about it now. Diggles had started to put the sacks in the roof of the stables. It had a nice sloped roof and the space above the stalls was rarely used. It was the only place they could think to store them. Considering that they wouldn't have as many to move and store it would hopefully be large enough for what they wanted.

"What do we do now?" said Petra. "If we wait until morning, we could be too late. They may decide to light it once dawn arrives."

"I'm not sure. I have some candles back at my house," suggested Diggles.

"Hello," came the voice from behind.

"Not now," said Petra, without turning around.

The two of them were trying to decide on what they should do. They could try doing it in the dark. The candles would blow out as soon as they wind hit them and to go back to hers to make something would take too long. There was a grunt behind them. Lightbulb was stood behind them. Now because of his unique ability as he was related to a red nosed reindeer, his was covered with a black glove like piece of cloth. It helped as when it was taken off, well you can image.

"Ta-da," he said.

The effective of pulling it off didn't quite have the same effect in a well-lit stable. No one noticed the bright nose he had just revealed. That was it he wanted attention. He walked to the stable entrance and switched off the lights. He had covered up his nose again, deliberately. It all went dark.

"Hey who did that?" cried Petra.

All heads raised and looked in the direction. Now he tried again.

"Ta-da."

The room was suddenly illuminated. It was certainly bright enough to see what you were doing.

"I think someone is trying to tell us something," said Petra.

"Just not sure what," said Diggles, smiling.

"Really, really. Are you two that blind? I mean a reindeer with a lightbulb nose. How do you think I got my name?" he blurted.

Now both Petra and Diggles had a smile on their faces. Then a snigger.

"Oh, I see make fun of my nose."

He covered it up and stormed out of the stables leaving them all in the dark. Diggles and Petra sighed and got up from where they had been thinking and walked out to see Lightbulb.

"Sorry Lightbulb," said Diggles. "Honestly as we see your nose to rare, I had forgot your unique ability, but if you're not up to the challenge and want to just stay here and sulk that is up to you."

Diggles started to walk back to the stable.

"Hang on," said Lightbulb. "What do you mean, not up to it?"

"Well you walked off. If you were really up to the job. You wouldn't have walked away."

"Do without me then?" said Lightbulb, expecting them to beg him to join them.

"Fine. I am sure that it will be dawn by the time that Petra makes some torches. Although I am guessing it could already be too late by then."

He and Petra were already back inside. Lightbulb just stood there watching. Diggles had just walked away from him. What could they do? They needed him?

"Right," he said, as he stormed back in. "You need me and you know it."

"Never said we didn't, but it looks like you're not up for it," continued Diggles.

"Just a minute. Who do you think is lead reindeer?"

"Then lead," said Blazen and stop wasting time.

Everyone was looking at him. Diggles and Petra stood with their arms folded waiting for his reaction. He hadn't realised that they were just waiting for him to get his act together.

"Well time is wasting let's go," he finally said.

"Backdoor," said Diggles, "we don't want to get seen. Well you don't or else every troll and goblin will be after you."

He stormed past them and headed out the back. Petra and Diggles followed along with everyone else except Princess. She had elected herself to stay and keep an eye on Glitz. He was awake, but still on the ceiling. He had not been impressed by the result of his hard work to distract the troll. They moved as quickly as they could with Lightbulb leading. They had to stay quite close together as they had no idea where they were going. Lightbulb lit the way and slowly they made their way to where they had been earlier. Sprinter, Petra, Diggles and Lightbulb, would make their way to the back of the bonfire. They had already wasted too much time and it would still take some considerable time to move everything. As it was dark Sprinter would be able to move the sacks faster. The others were all waiting and would take them to the stables. It was the only thing that they could think of. There had not been much time. They had been lucky with the wind and snow these past few days. Yet it was still cold in the night air and the only thing keeping them warm was the moving around. Slowly the pile of sacks started to disappear. They had to carefully pull some down that were right at the top. Any noise would be heard. There was still a troll sat out front.

Now they were nearing the end of the night. The twilight sky had appeared. It would be dawn soon. There were still a few more to go, but all were too tired. However, they had no intention of stopping now. They were almost there. Lightbulb was no longer needed and had returned with Sprinter to join up with the others. They had their instructions to head back to the stables and start to store everything away. Glitz was able to assist. Princess had hold of the rope, he would grab the sacks float up and she would give a tug to pull him back down. At least he wasn't feeling so useless right now. One way or another they had all been able to participate.

Diggles and Petra were ready to leave, but there was a problem. Blasta had arrived already.

"What is the meaning of this?" he shouted and slapped the troll.

He had fallen asleep some time ago. As they had been at the back of the bonfire and the light was still dim. They had not really noticed that he had fallen asleep. All of the sacked gifts had been collected. The last two sacks were with Petra and Diggles. Right now, neither of them could move. Blasta was pacing up and down. Orders were being shouted to the goblins who had accompanied him to watch as he set fire to the sacks of gifts. Now he was furious. The troll had no idea. It had been a long cold night. It wasn't really his fault. Well that's the way he saw it. Perhaps if he had not been alone then it might not have happened. He certainly had not liked being slapped by Blasta.

"Search everywhere it has to be that elf who escaped."

Diggles and Petra were biding behind at the back still. All it would take was for Blasta or a goblin, anyone really, to walk around and they would both be caught. They effective froze hearing him shouting and barking orders. Goblins were running left and right in whatever direction they could think of.

"Search all of the houses. He has to have a home here," said Blasta, then his voice became meaner. "Bring him to me."

Neither Diggles or Petra liked the sound of his voice. They were so quiet that they could hear the crunching of the snow as he walked away. Blasta was the last to leave.

This was not good. Slowly Diggles lifted his head. He had elected himself to look as he was the only elf known to them. If anyone was to get caught, it had to be him. All that remained, sat on the ground, was a sad troll. They had been tempted to join. Well more like bullied. It they hadn't of helped they would be considered enemies of the goblins. No one really wanted that. The trolls had always been friends to the elves in the past. This was not how they had expected things to be. They had their homes and families to think of. The goblins were really mean. Petra had been watching the troll and saw how sad he was, but it was unclear why.

"We need to move and fast," said Diggles, now that Blasta had gone.

"I know we can't be seen," she said.

"Not that. Didn't you hear? They are checking everywhere. We have to get back and warn the reindeer. Or they could be in trouble. So far, the goblins had not been near the stables, but Diggles was worried that when they didn't find him in town that they might start to search elsewhere.

It was unclear how long they would have. Diggles was quick to tell everyone about the threat to them and that Blasta was looking for someone to blame. They all had to leave and now. Diggles told Petra to go with them. He had to check that the sacks were hidden well enough. Then he messed with the wiring of the lights. The sacks were black, but in the light, they might be seen. If the stables were in darkness, they had a chance of nothing being discovered. With a whole army of goblins searching the town it wouldn't take long before they realised that he wasn't there. Then they would have to widen the search. He knew it was a risk to tell the reindeer to run and hide, but what other choice was there. Perhaps he should have turned himself in. That might have been a good idea, but the goblins would not be nice and would endeavour to try and find a way to get the information from him. All he could do was ensure that he had done his best to try make sure the sacks would not be discovered. He was just leaving via the back of the stables when he heard the front doors opening.

He quickly slipped out of the back and gently closed the doors to the stables. If he ran now, they would probably see him. What he was unclear of, was it just a few or many, who had come to search. It didn't matter he had to hide. He looked around, the hay pile out back was frozen over as was the outside water trough. Although it would have been very cold. There was only one thing to do and he had to hurry. The noises inside were getting closer to the back doors. He grabbed hold of the trough and pulled it over with him lying on the underside. It was still cold as the ice pressed up against him. There had been nothing else to do. The reindeer had got away, that was good.

They had been at the bottom end of the large field. It was not that clear as to what was happening at the stables. Diggles had appeared, but had made no attempt to follow them. They all watched as he did the most peculiar thing. When Petra saw him doing that with the trough, she knew that something was very wrong. It was only moments later that they all watched as the back doors to the stables opened. From where they were it was unclear as to what was happening.

"Anything?" asked one of the goblins, inside the stables.

"Looks deserted."

He glanced up at the sky. It was getting dark, even though it was daylight. A storm was approaching that was one thing he didn't want. The goblins were used to living underground. You didn't have to worry about such things when you were down there. He closed up the stables and prepared to leave.

**10**

The gifts had been saved and now they were looking to see if there was a way to save Santa and the other elves. The security had intensified. They were all presuming that it was Diggles. There was less than two weeks now. One problem had been dealt with and yet they seemed to be further from resolving the situation.

"What are we going to do?" said Petra.

They had already lost a day as they had no clue what to do. The stables had been abandoned. They couldn't draw any attention to the stables. It was something of a squeeze, but everyone was currently crammed into Petra's workshop. She had a back entrance. It had required some pushing back of equipment that wasn't being used right now, but at least all of the reindeer could get in and lie down and sleep at night. However, this was not a stable and so she had made it quite clear that they had to attend to personal matters outdoors. That was something she didn't relish having to clean up and deal with.

They had been trying to decide on what they should do. Sprinter had been for a run around the perimeter of the town. The goblins all seemed to be at the factory with several roaming patrols. It was considered that they were still looking for Diggles. The trolls were still in various places, but mostly acting as guards. Glitz got up and left the building, he needed a moment to himself. There were not too many places for a private moment. He wandered a little too far into the open. That was a huge mistake.

"Hey, it's a reindeer."

His head darted around towards the sound of voices. Glitz's immediate reaction was to run back to the others. He hesitated and realised that would be worse. There was no other choice. He bolted in the other direction. The goblins ran after him. Shouting out they drew the attention of another patrol. Glitz ducked in a different direction seeing a second patrolling running towards him. He was so glad he had ditched the high heels right now. It was so much easier to run as he was. The direction he had run was straight for town. He was dodging around the buildings trying to keep ahead of him. Being a reindeer and living at this town, he was used to running on the snow and was soon able to get some distance from them.

The shouting had been heard in Petra's workshop as Glitz had left the back door open. Diggles was up immediately and saw the goblins. He was wanting to run out, but also realised that he was not alone. This was no time for heroics. Quickly he told the others to stay put and stay away from any windows. He then vanished. Petra was at the door within seconds and watched as he quickly darted from one cover to the next. There were a few trees and bushes scattered around. She didn't have a backyard or anything like that. She had chosen to build the workshop to take up the entire plot area. Therefore, the area behind was just the open countryside. Her workshop was her pride and joy and what she enjoyed doing the most. She watched until he had gone.

"Do you think Glitz will be alright?" the others asked.

"Well he has run and gone into town. I am sure Diggles will catch up to him soon."

Diggles was doing his best to keep Glitz in sight, but it wasn't easy as he had run into town. It would have been better to just have run the other way. He would have easily lost them in time. Yet dodging around the streets was not helping him. Each turn slowed him down. Diggles had to be careful not to get caught himself. There was no telling what Blasta would do with him, if he was caught. Glitz was almost on the other side of town now. He had been able to keep ahead of them so far. The last thing he should do was run to the stables. A third patrol had been seen out of the corner of his eye heading in that direction. He was doing his best to stay alert. There was still shouting from behind. This was a really bad situation that he was in.

Glitz was at a loss to know where to go and that was when he made a mistake. He turned the next corner and found himself staring at the factory. Well it was somewhere they were all intending to come, but this was not that time. The goblins were stood in front of him. They saw him and immediately started to circle him. He had effectively frozen to the spot. As he turned to go back the way he came there were the other two patrols that had been chasing him.

"Tie the beast up," bawled Blasta.

Glitz had been captured. Now they put a rope around his neck. The goblins were not gentle with him. Their plans had been scuppered and none of them were pleased. All of them were just mean. That didn't sit well with Diggles as he hide crouched in the bushes down the road. He had failed Glitz. This was not a good end of the year. Christmas was a mess right now. No Santa, one reindeer captured and all the elves unable to finish the order of gifts. Now they tied Glitz up outside of the factory. It was at a similar point to where he had been. There was no way that any of them could get close to the factory. All their efforts to save the gifts had been for nothing. What could do they do know. They were just too few. This was not how this time of year should be. It would look like that Christmas was indeed cancelled. Diggles hung his head low whilst watching. It would have to be a miracle now, because he was clueless as to what he could do now. All he could do was return to the others and hope that there was a way for them to overcome this situation. Perhaps if they all put their heads together, they would come up with a solution.

He had arrived at the graveyard and waited until it was midnight. It took a while for them to arise and appear.

"Well guys, are you in?"

"Do you even need to ask?" said one of the midnight risers.

The area was completely cast in darkness and their features were completely hidden from anyone. They could just be voices hidden in the night. No one would have known that they were lurking in the shadows. Most only ever saw them once a year. It was the only time that anyone knew they even existed. Unless you were one of those who came out to offer aid with fun and festivities then you were rarely seen and now, they were being called upon. For something that had befallen a fellow friend. One who brought the greatest of cheer each year and touched all the lives that existed. It wasn't as if they weren't as important, but the end of the year produced the greatest festivity and carried on for days, well at least until it saw the breaking of the new year. Now they were asked to help. Well they were not going to let their friends down. They accepted them regardless of the time of year.

"Well I have to check."

"Would you like us to make our own way there or will you be back?" asked another.

Five stood in the darkness. One wasn't there, he was kind of eccentric. They would have to get all of their equipment together.

"You will have to make your own way there I have one more call to make."

"You're not going where I think. Are you?" they all said.

"Don't be like that. He said sorry. Besides he is one of us and there aren't many of us. So, be nice."

They all nodded. It was important that they all stood together. United as one. He left as quickly as he could, this was one person, who shouldn't be left out. However, he always worked, he had a special kind of talent. It was very unique and brought love and joy in a different form.

Well the five stood there and all looked at each other. One of them were going to have to find him. He was not always seen as much as they were. They had their home on the surface. His was underground. No one wanted to go alone and so they all went together.

"Hey Vic," called Zee.

"Interesting to see you all down here."  
"Well you never leave your home only once a year."

"What can I do for you?"

"Santa and the gang are in trouble. We have been asked to help. The only way to get there is to fly and you're the only one who can help us. Not that it's a pleasant flight."

He smiled; he knew exactly what she meant. Even though they flew, it was a bizarre way of travelling and required a lot to help and aid. He was the only one who had the means to get what was required.

"You're asking me to join you?"

"Yes. The sunlight won't be much of a problem for you will it."

He reached round and grabbed his hat and a pair of shades.

"Not anymore. I guess the sooner we leave the better."

"No, no, no," said Petra.

She was pacing backwards and forwards again. It was something she tended to do when things were not quite right it was one of those things that she did.

"Calm down, Petra," said Diggles.

She stopped and looked at him.

"This is really bad."

"There is nothing we can do about what has happened," said Diggles.

Petra had to go and see for herself. She wasn't sure what she could do if anything, but there had to be a way for them to free Glitz. The others also needed to be freed. This was a really bad situation. What were they to do? Petra was angry about the situation and wasn't sure if she could contain it right now. She made her way slowly and carefully towards the factory. There were still patrols everywhere, but none were walking. It was like they had been posted at certain points about the town. Mostly a street junction. She had to ensure she crept behind the houses or climbed the dividing fences or push her way through the edges. Yeah, that wasn't a good look. Her long hair got tangled up. Now she had, the dragged through the hedge look. Maybe one day it would be fashionable, or not. It was good that she never wore elf green as she would easily be spotted. Her overalls being all dirty were perfect for sneaking around. One day she might actually wash them.

She was in position. There was one house opposite the factory that was very over grown. It was perfect for her to hide and not be seen. She could see Glitz. It didn't look like he had been harmed. There was a rope around his neck and that was tied to the wall. There was no way to get to him as the goblins were all stood in front of him and around the rest of the factory, several goblins deep. The whole situation had definitely got worse. Petra was about to leave when she heard the sound of something being dragged. Glancing back, she couldn't believe what she saw. Why had they got that? She pressed herself up against the house wall so she could get a better look. Now she witnessed Blasta walk forward. He then called out.

"I know you're out there somewhere. Well I may not have the gifts as you have somehow managed to get them back. Well I have one of your beasts, but you won't be able to deliver anything not if you have no means of transport. Then he set light to the item he had dragged out into the front of the factory.

She ran the tears had come. Petra had been trying for days to hold them back, but that was just too much. Why were the goblins so mean? She arrived back at the workshop. The tears still covered her face. She stepped inside and looked at everyone. No one had ever seen Petra cry before. She was always so tough. This however was too much.

"They burned it. Its official Christmas is cancelled."

"Burned what? Glitz?" cried Blazen.

"Don't be daft," said Sprinter.

"The sleigh," said Petra.

It had been kept in the shed at the side of the factory. They must have found it when searching everywhere for Diggles. Now there was no way to deliver the gifts, even if they were able to rescue everyone in time. Even her contraption that she had been working one would not aid them now. She had not been able to order a replacement part. What were they to do now?

**11**

He had arrived at his last stop. It wasn't as happy as he had expected. Usually this person was full of life and caring and loving for all around. Something was wrong. He knocked on the door. There was no reply. Now he would normally only be seen once a year, but it didn't mean that what he did had no affect during the rest of year. Sometimes he would make and appearance, but no one ever knew that he had been there. It was the effect that he left behind that made the difference. Trying the door, he found it was unlocked. They were old friends as were all of them that revolved in their circle.

He walked into the house and no one seemed to be there. It was so quiet. Now he walked to the back room. There he was and it was the first time that he had ever seen him with a frown on his face. This was not good.

"Want to share?" he asked.

The one sitting in the chair hadn't even noticed that someone had entered. He was feeling that sad and glum.

"Oh, it's you."

"Why the long face?"

He held up his bow. It was his trademark item. He couldn't do anything without his bow. What he was unable to see was what was wrong with his bow. He sat down and looked at him.

"Santa and the elves are in trouble."

He raised his head.

"You will have to do it without me."

"No can do. We need everyone."

"I am sure you can cope without me."

"Even Vic is in."

Now he was curious. What could be so bad that the others had needed Vic's help.

"The goblins are holding Santa captive along with the elves. Mrs Claus made a quick call. They even have the trolls with them. It would seem that Petra and Diggles are the only ones who are free. Your needed, besides what's wrong with your bow."

Now he revealed the snapped bow string.

"Fix it."

"They are magical strings."

"I thought that came from you?"

"I'm sad though."

"Seriously. At this time of year. How can you be sad? Your needed whether you like it or not. We need you it's that simple. Now get your things together we have to move really fast to get there. The others should be there soon. Doesn't Santa have spare strings. He did send you some the other Christmas."

Now he picked up his head. That was why he was sad. He had forgot how he had acquired the last lot. It had been over a decade, maybe even more. So much had happened since that time. Now he saw a glimmer of a spark in his eye.

"Good that's what I like to see. Now let's make tracks."

The gang had been transported to the north pole by Vic and his swarm. That is, he had taken them via the Vampire express. Not the most comfortable of rides. They knew where to head. Well two possible locations. The first had been empty. They gathered their gear and headed to the workshop. Now Zee knocked on the door.

"Knock, knock."

Those inside froze. They were suddenly scared to death. Had the goblins realised where they were. This was so bad. The reindeer were moving from place to place trying to find somewhere to hide. Petra sneaked up to the upper area trying not to make a sound.

"Knock, knock."

There it was again. Whoever was there was persistent. Petra leaned forward to look outside. Her eyes went wide. She couldn't believe who was outside. Petra came charging down the stairs. The noise was horrific. All of the reindeer froze, even Diggles. Then she opened the door. What had gotten into her?

"Zee," she called and hugged an old friend.

"Hey girl. Heard you had some trouble."

"How?"

"Mrs C," said Zee.

Zee was the lead singer of Hallowed Screams. They were the Halloween band that performed on that one scary night. Zee was a Zombie girl.

Diggles had appeared at the door. Petra looked over at the rest. She knew them all.

"Hey Madi, looks like you need a good grooming."

"Easy girl, my teeth are sharp," she said, winking.

Madi was a descendant of wolf-man. She was a wolf-girl. Now Petra turned to the others.

"Skinny," she said and walked over to him and gave his skeletal frame a hug.

"The wind up here really blows through you," he said.

She laughed at that, considering he was a skeleton. Skinny was the drummer of the band, where Madi provided the howls and screams. Ghastly was next she hugged, he was the resident Ghoul of the group and played guitar. Last was Misty, she was a ghost and played keyboard. Well at least when she could hang onto a more solid form. Sometimes her fingers slipped through the keys. Petra was unsure who was covered head to toe in black. He more a hat with a brim and dark sunglasses. From a quick glance he looked like he was the doorman. Petra asked who it was.

"That's Vic. You know Vic. Well you would on a dark night. How did you expect us to get her so quick?"

So, they had even been able to drag Vic the Vampire out of his coffin. That was not an easy thing to do. Guess it really was considered an emergency. Petra led the way back in. This was really awkward now. There were so many of them squeezed into such a small space.

Petra and Diggles between them told of the plight that had befallen the winter town. There was so much to go through. They had no clue as to what to do next.

"Well gang," said Zee, after she had heard everything. "I think it's time to let Santa and the elves. Know that there is help available."

"What do you have in mind?" asked Petra.

"Seriously girl. Hallowed Screams come all this way to help and you don't expect us to use our talents to the best of our abilities."  
Diggles smiled and knew what she meant. Hallowed Screams could certainly cook up a storm.

"Is the old stage still standing."

Now everyone was starting to get the picture. It was time to rock this town. They would have to make it a quick session as they didn't want to get caught before the real fun started and the other two got her.

It was an open-air stage. With a curved canopy that covered half of the stage. It was on the opposite side of town to the stables. There used to be times that all of them would get together. It just hadn't been expected for them all to be getting together at this time of year. Normally it was at a quieter time once the new year started, but hadn't been done in a while. They sneaked in the twilight. None of them wanted to be seen. The reindeer had to go with them too. Their equipment wasn't light. It had required all of Vic's bats to get them here. They were currently resting in the roof space of the workshop. If you had no watchdog then bats were awesome at the job. Sharp little mammalian teeth. Who would argue with that?

They set up the gear. It was to be a quick blast of tunes and then scarper before the goblins got to them. It was dark and only the moonlight to see by. Damn! It was just like Halloween all over again. Who thought they would do two gigs this year? They had no time for a sound check. Skinny grabbed a couple of ribs from his cage. He didn't use sticks. The bones made a unique sound of their own. They were hollow too and added to the eerie effect.

"1,2. 1,2,3."

Skinny rattled across the skins and Madi let out a howl. The night air was shattered as it was followed by a scream from Zee as she went into the vocals.

"Shadow of darkness. They creep and crawl. You would be a fool. Even on this Hallowed night. The screams they echo across the land."

Madi let out another howl. Bounce and Sprinter were on sentry duty. The goblins all slept at night. They were still able to have two shifts alternating. One was dead to the world and if the others weren't awake yet. They sure were now."

"Shattered screams. Destroy your dreams. The curse of the night. Whispered upon the air. The screams they echo across the land."

Again, Madi screamed out. It was easier to sing one of their hallowed songs. That way Santa would know. They were so loud, but that was the point. It was meant to wake the dead. Except on that hallowed eve they would be in the graveyard. All the spooks and ghouls would rise up from their slumber.

Sprinter was racing towards them. The goblins had heard and now the direction was pinpointed. No time for a third verse. They couldn't hang around any longer. Hopefully they had been heard inside the factory too. The equipment was quickly packed the reindeer had strong backs and had been able to carry the equipment there. They moved as quickly as their gear allowed. Sprinter was quick and made a distraction running down the street in the opposite. Direction he had more sense than Glitz and ran straight out of town. The goblins had followed him, long before they had found their way to the stage. Who was to say that he hadn't been playing the music? The rest hurried. There was no telling if they had been seen or spotted. Luckily, they hadn't. All they had to do was hope that Santa had been awake and heard that there was help on the outside. I mean if their songs were loud enough and scary enough to wake the dead on Halloween, surely, they could wake a sleeping Santa.

Once back at the workshop and very out of breath it was time to get some rest. Blasta had been disturbed from his sleep too. The report had come back about a second reindeer. He knew that the one he had wouldn't be the only one. There were definitely more. Right now, the number that Santa used eluded him. It wasn't exactly something that came to mind. It would seem that they had seen his burning pyre outside the factory. If he had not been able to destroy then the sleigh was the next best thing. Besides Santa was locked up and confined. After that evening, when he was supposed to deliver the gifts had come to pass and he had failed then he would no longer be needed or required. Santa and the elves would be out of a job. Perhaps once all of the children were naughty, the goblins could create their own celebration and reward for being the naughtiest.

**12**

The noise, even though a little eerie had penetrated across the night and had even been able to get beyond the goblins and was now inside the factory.

"What's that?" said one elf.

They had just been rudely woken by the sound. It was not perfectly clear. Was that a wolf howl they heard?

"AAH!"

The thought of it made them think they were having nightmares. This was not a nice thought. They started to shake with fear as it started to take hold of them. Screaming again the elf next to them jabbed them with their elbow.

"Shut up. Trying to sleep here."

The one who was having the nightmare, as they thought, turned to them.

"What are you doing in my nightmare?"

"Not a nightmare. Your awake. That's Hallowed Screams who are playing."

His eyes shot wide open. It hit him. That wasn't a stereo or anything like that. Those sounds, they were real. Then that meant. He wanted to stand up and wave his arms and wake everyone, but he was tied at both ends. Not the most comfortable position to be in for days on end. This was not a good Christmas. Now he wanted to shout and tell everyone, but could hear the noises outside of the goblins moving around. The rest that he could make out as he stared across the darkness within the factory were restless and trying to sleep. It was clear that none of them knew the significance of what was happening.

The goblins had started to move away from the factory. He was able to hear that, but all he could do was wait until dawn. Unable to sleep he listened to the music it was one of their Halloween songs, that they sung at the graveyard bash. Every now and then, as it was the time of year when everyone dressed up, they could sneak off and join in. The sound suddenly stopped. No! That was not good had they been caught this was a bad situation.

One other was awake. He was closer to the ceiling and the roof was a little thinner. Santa sat, strapped in his chair, still at his desk. A smile appeared across his face. Only one person would have thought to have called the others for reinforcements. Mrs Claus. He was unaware of what had happened to Diggles. They had dragged him outside. What he was aware of is that whatever had been planned for the gifts had been foiled. He had no idea who by, but was also aware that Petra was never at the workshop. She was the odd one out at times. Always striving to excel. Santa didn't really mind. Petra tended to think outside of the box. The thingamajig was certainly a big help. All though the screen was probably a little excessive. For some reason she had thought it was necessary.

If Hallowed Screams were here then there was hope. All he had to do was find a way to get free of these bonds. Santa was very strong. Carrying all of those sacks every year meant that he had to keep in shape. Even at his age he had to work out a lot and jog every day. There were those at the end of the year that counted on him being there for them. This was no different. His arms were tied at the wrists to the chair. It was on wheels and even though his legs were tied at the ankles they weren't tied to the chair. Pushing backwards slowly with his feet, so that the chair didn't tip over, he hooked the tip of his boots under the edge of the desk draw and slowly started to pull it open. Inside was a letter opener, no not sharp enough. Scissors, they might work. Now the desk was open he slowly crept the chair forward. If he rushed the draw might close. Being tied at the wrist meant his fingers were free. With one hand he flicked the scissors open and then carefully propped them up against the inside edge. Now with his knees he very, very slowly closed the draw and trapped them. Having succeeded in trapping the scissors he now started to rub the bindings across the scissors. This was not easy as he had to stand, the best he could as he was bound and had to wiggle side to side, whilst still sat in the chair. It was slow going as the scissors were not the best. Why did Mrs Claus have to insist on him having safety scissors in his office? He wasn't a child. All she would say in reply was, 'no dear'. Just because he played with toys all year round and well, he did have a basement at home that was full of toys he had collected over the years. Did it still make him a child if he chose to take his work home with him and then never return it the next day? Nah.

One hand was free. Now he started to work on the next one. It was almost daylight by the time he was completely free. The first thing he did was stand up and stretch. Oh, that felt so good and even better that he was free. He interlocked his fingers and 'crack' as he flexed them. Santa was annoyed. No one stopped Christmas. They had come close. Although he wasn't exactly sure what they did burn outside. All he had seen were the flames through the window and the office door had been shut. No one had been gagged as it took too much time to take them on and off when it was feeding time. It had been shut to stop him from being able to talk to the others and organise them.

Now he walked over to the door. Locked. Mm, he thought to himself. He was a little stiff from being sat for so long, but it was an old door and the frame was not the best. The factory had been standing for a long time. Now he had to get out. He took hold of the handle. Well at least Petra had remembered to fit a new door handle. It wouldn't help if he got locked in like he had in the past when both sides had suddenly fallen off. He placed his left hand against the frame and took a firm grip of the handle with his right hand. Then really tightened his grip as his muscles started to flex and he knew she had made a good job as he started to pull on the door hard. The handle was good, the door old and the frame was weak. Dawn was just starting to appear as the sun kissed the top of the factory with its light. It was clearly seen through the roof top windows. As it peaked to brighten his day, the day suddenly became even brighter as the wood in the door frame cracked. He kept pulling, harder and harder. His face almost in a rage as his adrenalin started to course though his body. Then...

"Aargh!"

It cracked several more times and then it split apart completely. The door was open, even if the hinges were slightly bent now. That was something that Petra would have to take care of.

Now he was feeling really good. The crack and snapping of the door frame had woken all of the elves. He put a finger to his lips as he saw them all looking at him. Each and every one was smiling. There was hope in their eyes. He crept down the stairs and started to untie them. Once one was free, they assisted. With combined effort of all it wasn't long before they were free.

"Well, Santa do you have a plan?"

"Not at the moment Snart," he said.

Snart was factory foreman.

"But Santa, we haven't finished the orders yet."

"I know, but it will have to wait. We can't let them know that we are free."

He was looking around the factory. There was nothing that he could see that would aid them right now. There were outnumbered, but at least they were free. He knew that they wanted to get back to work, but that would make too much noise. Somehow, he had to come up with a way to let those outside know they were free, without being seen. It would be daylight soon and they would need to look like that they hadn't untied themselves. For now, Santa returned to his office.

Blasta was furious. He had no idea who had played the music only that another reindeer had been seen running away in the area that the disturbance had come from. Now he had patrols out scouring the area. A patrol had already been left at the stables, just in case he was to return there. This is not what he wanted. Was this their idea of a game. All he had to do was keep Santa and the elves locked up for two more weeks and then it was over. They would never be able to recover. The children or anyone who wanted this special time of year would be really upset and that would end everything. Even if Santa made a late appearance it would not be enough. Everyone was expecting him on a particular evening if he failed to deliver that was him done. They could easily keep the roaming reindeer from being a problem. If he was out of town and he was intending to cause more mischief then he would have to get past all of his patrols.

Apparently, the reindeer had been exceptionally fast and his patrols were breathless by the time they had reached the town perimeter. As they couldn't run anymore, they had chosen to guard that particular position. Not the cleverest idea. It was considered that he would come back. True, but that would not be his intended destination. Sprinter took no risks. They were already one down. It would not be good if he was caught too. He started to walk back once the dawn light had risen. It was wise not to run right now. The walk back would allow him to regain his strength, just in case he came across another patrol.

He had reached the outer area of town and had to stop they had placed patrols and guards everywhere. Even some of the trolls had been placed further out. This was not good. Yet if they were that far out, did that mean there were less guarding the factory, or had Blasta pulled them from the night shift. He made some mental notes as to where they were positioned, but could only remember the area he was in now. What he really needed to do was get back to the others and let them know about the changes. They would not realise as there was no way to see from where Petra's workshop was.

**13**

The last two had arrived. It had not been the easiest of journey's, but they had made it.

"Where are we heading?"

"Well I was told the stables or Petra's workshop. It's still early so I suggest we head to Petra's hopefully we can get something to eat I am starving."

The two sauntered down the lane on their approach to the town. They were on the wrong side of town. This was not good. In front of them blocking the way was a goblin patrol.

"This doesn't look good and me with a broken bow too."

"Don't worry old friend I really do need the exercise."

He went bounding down the road. The extra workouts had certainly paid off. His white and grey form was coming up on the goblins really fast.

"HALT!" came the command.

"Certainly," he said.

Now he stood a little distance from the goblins.

"No one is allowed into town."

"That's a shame I was hoping to visit with an old friend."

"Who are you?"

"Well most know me as the Easter Rabbit, but my friends call me Bunny and whether you like it or not I'm entering town. My friend Cupid and I had no intention of coming all this distance to be turned away."

Now he shifted his weight and stance his arms came up in front of him. Bunny was not a small rabbit. Considering he had been working out and had a lot to do when his festive day arrived. He was about three feet tall. The goblins were slightly taller than he was. They all stood laughing. With his bunny chop he attacked them. Once he had slapped a couple he flicked backwards and rested on his hands so he could deliver the rabbit kick. Two goblins flying backwards rolling through the snow. Cupid was not a fighter; he had a bow for a reason and it wasn't to cause harm or damage. A goblin came at him regardless. He had no idea what to do and closed his eyes. He waved his bow around in front of him. Slap, slap he heard.

"You're in for it now," cried the goblin.

Cupid opened his eyes and saw the goblin about to strike. Bunny back flipped hearing that. As he landed, he spun round fast. Now for the ear slap. He didn't have long ears for nothing. The troll suddenly felt a slap on his back repeatedly attacking him over and over. He left Cupid for now and turned around.

As the goblin turned, he quickly delivered a couple of bunny chops followed, by some rabbit punches. His fists were flying all around him as his strong legs kept him bouncing around the goblin. The goblin was slowly starting to feel the effects. Those who had been kicked over earlier were now back on their feet. They were covered head to toe in snow.

"Awesome," said Bunny.

He quickly delivered a rabbit kick to the goblin he was engaged with, knocking him out and then raced towards the others. Leaping into the air with his powerful legs he spun around and kicked outwards with both legs and knocked those two out as well. The others were starting to leave. That was not good. They had only just arrived and the last thing Bunny wanted was for the rest of the goblins to be alerted to their presence. With a quick bounce on the ground and as he landed, he was off chasing after them.

Cupid made himself useful. He may have broken his bow string, but he still had the means to tie up the two goblins. Then he used his foot to kick them into the nearest ditch. Three of the five had been dealt with. He noticed how Bunny had become even faster than the last time he had seen him. It looked like he was attempting to beat Sprinter. No one had been able to beat Sprinter in a dash. Although looking at Bunny right now he might finally have some competition. Bunny was upon them it was only seconds as he hit the first one and then bounced on his head hard to stop him from getting up and was quickly off again after the last one. Cupid continued to follow. They were just outside of town, so it made sense to keep following Bunny. Now he watched as he chopped, punched and then knocked out the final goblin. It helped being a three foot, buffed up, rabbit. Not many stole your eggs when he was out delivering them.

"Right that takes care of them," he finally said, helping Cupid with the last one.

Bunny had enjoyed the workout. After the long walk here, it helped to have a good stretch and there was no better way than slapping a few goblins. They always seemed to be the ones who were mean at the celebratory periods.

They arrived at Petra's. Skinny had been watching from the upstairs window. He had been the obvious one to watch. I mean who would expect a skeleton to be the lookout. He didn't exactly look like he was real. Petra opened up and immediately hugged Bunny. It was good to see them both, but Cupid was still looking sorrowful.

"What's wrong with him?" she asked.

"His bow string is broken and doesn't have a replacement."

"Oh," she replied.

"Factory," said Diggles, who had overheard.

They all looked around and Cupid raised his head.

"You know Santa. He always has something when we get together for the New Year's Eve stomp. This was when they would normally get together at this time of year. It was called the stomp as it stamped out the old year allowing for the new to appear. Hallowed Screams provided the entertainment and it was usually held here in town. The last couple of years it had been cancelled. Well there was only one thing stopping it happening his year and that was they needed to save Christmas.

They brought Bunny and Cupid up to speed. Hopefully those in the factory had heard and were preparing for them to do something. There would be no knowing until they actually did something. The problem was they had no idea what was going on inside the factory. Petra had climbed up using the ladder in the past. They had no way of being able to get past the guards and see what was happening. It would have to be done during the daylight too. Being on the roof and looking in at night would not help as you would not be able to see anything. It was not an easy thing.

Bunny wanted to see the lay of the land for himself. He was white and grey so almost blended into the surroundings. Bunny could move very quickly, but being three feet tall had its draw backs. He wasn't able to easily conceal himself. Therefore, he had to sneak around as low as he could once he had reached the centre of town. The activity had increased considerably from what the others had told him. As far as he could see no one had been alerted to his presence as those he had dealt with on his way into town had not been able to make a report. From everything else he had been made aware. It was quite likely that the goblins didn't know that Zee and the band were the ones who had made the noise. It had been bold and brave of Sprinter to cause a distraction. That reindeer certainly had some speed. Now he lay and watched as the goblins stood outside. They didn't seem to be very alert. Most of them actually looked bored. Perhaps that fact could be put to good use. What he needed to do was find out where Blasta was hiding. He wasn't stood with the others. That was not a good sign. Either he was up to no good or had already decided that he had won the fight. With the remnants of a burned and blackened sleigh in pieces in front of the factory and the fact that Santa and the elves were still locked up, then he probably had decided that he had won.

Bunny needed to find a way to change that. Until they had a plan or at least had a way of causing a sufficient distraction that would hopefully lead to the freeing of those held captive, then there wasn't a lot they could do now. He carried on creeping and moving around town. It was not easy going. From what he could establish it looked like a lot of goblins. There was no street that he didn't find one standing. It would seem that Blasta was intending for no one to get to that factory. Nonetheless he kept going. He was close to the edge of town near Santa's old office when he saw Blasta come out of one of the houses. Bunny watched as he started to walk around the town. It would seem he was making rounds and checking on all of his troops. Knowing where Blasta had come from he sneaked off to the back of the house and entered. There was nothing strange about what he saw. Even Blasta as the leader of the grey goblins had travelled light. He was messing, unless he was just assuming that whoever's house this was would clean up when they all left. It occurred to him that this was probably the same for all the goblins that were scattered around town. They must have entered homes of other elves to sleep. Elves didn't lock their doors. Why would they? They all knew each other and were never mean to each other. There were times that they had squabbles, but who didn't. Once you made up, things went back to normal. He left and returned to the others. It would be nice to have Blasta out of the way. At least long enough to get the goblins away from the factory. As he left, he felt a chill and looked up. The sky was starting to change. It looked like there was going to be a fall of snow soon.

Arriving back at the workshop he explained to everyone else what he had seen. On his arrival back the first fall of flakes had appeared in the sky. Well it was the north pole; snow was inevitable at some point.

"Glue him in," said Petra.

Bunny and the others looked at her. She went to get the pole and ball she had used to act as a stand for making the copper wire wig. Bunny examined it.

"You made this adhesive yourself."

"Yes," she replied.

He prodded it several times.

"Oh," she said. "Just hit it."

That he liked. The base was securely flattened to the floor. There was very little room in the workshop. He took a swing at it. It was no light punch either. The intention was to ensure that it was as good as she claimed. It was so hard and the glue so strong that they wooden pole snapped. The force behind the punch was so great that it went straight through one of her windows. Not good. The snow had started to really pick up and the snowflakes were being hurtled down from the sky. The night time darkness would have been perfect. Except the glue might not set in this weather. Everything seemed to be against them. Blasta and the goblins were slowly winning. As each day drifted past, he was one step closer to achieving his goal.

**14**

Bunny had not been able to sleep and was up as the twilight appeared. It was now or never. The snow was still falling steadily, but if he didn't do anything then another day would be lost. The broken window had been covered with wood to keep the draft out. Petra was used to things breaking. He noted that other windows were also covered. Soon she wouldn't be able to see out. Bunny quietly sneaked out of the workshop. Even though he was large as rabbits go, he was well camouflaged against the snow. The flakes were steadily falling. It was enough to hinder your vision, but it didn't prevent him from proceeding with the plan he had in mind.

He headed to where Blasta would be sleeping. What he had been unclear of, was how much adhesive he should be using. Well he certainly was prepared. Having put all the adhesive, he could find; into Petra's pack he had then departed. Now he was applying it. Thankfully she had been able to realise how strong her glue was and placed it into containers that could be held and squeezed out of a nozzle. He very, very quietly opened the door and ejected the contents down the door frame and the along the base. Also, on the door too. He was taking no chances. Then the door was quietly shut. Sneaking to the front of the house he looked to ensure that no one was around. It was very hard to see, but he remained low and repeated what he had done at the back door. There was very little adhesive left when he had finished. Now it was time to get back to the others.

Petra was already up. Diggles had led the reindeer out back. Personal things to take care of first thing in the morning.

"Hey," she said. "Where have you been?"

"Been to deal with Blasta," he said, dropping her pack on the ground.

It wasn't sealed and the empty containers spilled out. Petra looked down and her eyes went wide when she saw how many were empty.

"Please tell me that they were already empty when you took them?"

"Nope."

"You didn't use that much? Did you?"

"Why?"

"A few drops in the right place would have sufficed. Once it takes hold it really sticks."

"Oh. Well whatever is empty is what I used."

Her eyes were still wide as she counted the containers. She had already reached seven and gave up. Out of her stock only three had adhesive.

"Well, even if you hit the sealed joints with a sledge hammer, he is not getting out of there ever."

"Problem solved then," said Bunny, smiling.

She shook her head. The snow was still falling, but he had been thinking all night and had little sleep. What they needed to do was distract the goblins guarding the factory. He had realised from what had been said that when they heard Hallowed Screams playing, they had come. The question was, did Blasta tell them or was it orders? Perhaps if they were to announce themselves this time the reaction might be different. What would be unclear, is if they would react or not? No one knew what had been said by Blasta to the rest of the goblins since that time.

He laid out what he thought was a reasonable plan. It was still snowing, but not harshly. It might help to take advantage of the weather. The goblins would more than likely not see them sneaking around town and would give Zee and the others time to get into position for a performance.

It was set the reindeer had no choice, but to help the band get ready for the gig. There was just too much equipment. The snow would have to be cleared from the stage too. It was too open at the front. They set the equipment up as far back as they could on the stage. Petra had a broom and swept the snow from the stage. It was rarely used and only usually just the once when they came by at the end of the year. If it snowed on that particular year. They had been known to hold their end of year stomp in the factory. That was something that was not possible to consider. Now they were almost ready. Bunny took the others with him and led them across town. The reason for this was that they had to attack from the opposite side. Hopefully the noise of the band would allow for them to get to the factory uninterrupted.

Zee counted them in and the sound of band split the air again. It was certainly mean and loud. For a moment they played just and instrumental piece to get things kicked off. There didn't really seem to be a response. Time to put into action what Bunny had said.

"Hello north pole. This is Hallowed Screams. Requested to perform here today. One day performance for the goblins, courtesy of their leader Blasta. This is to thank you all for a wonderful job."

Now it was time to get the show off the ground.

"HIT IT."

Skinny ripped across the drums and repeated. His feet were bouncing up and down as he beat away on two bass drums. The rib sticks were beating away and hitting the cymbals periodically. Now Madi screamed out as Ghastly and Misty joined in. Then Zee followed it up with the lyrics.

"What do you call the boy. Who couldn't get a toy? Goblin, goblin. A naughty little grey goblin."

The sound now carried through the snow. They had already decided upon the opening song and went into it. The drums and the beat were electrifying. Now one or two of the goblins started to appear it was unclear what direction they had come from. The snow was steady and thick. All they could do was see many grey faces appearing. Now she went into the second verse.

"He was so mean and cruel. There was not cheer. Only lots of fear. A naughty little grey goblin."

More were coming now. Skinny hit the drum solo and went around them all. The sound was intense as the vibration were travelling through the stage, that was completely hollow. The remnants of snow on the stage floor was bouncing in time to the sound.

Bunny was in position with the others. He elected to go forward and see if they had moved or not. They could just hear the music. It wasn't as clear as he would have liked. When he arrived across the street, he was surprised to see so many goblins still there. This wasn't what he had hoped for. There were more here than he wanted. All they could do was their best. Heading back to where they were waiting, he heard Zee enter her second song. Well she must have an audience otherwise she would not have continued.

"Christmas, Christmas. Merry, merry Christmas. Christmas, Christmas. Is here and full of cheer."

The goblins were starting to enjoy the sounds ripping through the air. They didn't care that it was still snowing. All those there were moving in time to the music. Then Ghastly was starting to have some trouble. Misty lost her shape and her fingers passed through the keys. Zee continued and hit the second verse.

"Christmas, Christmas. Its full of gifts. Christmas, Christmas. The snow just appeared."

Continuing with the song didn't help. Skinny and Madi were doing what they could to cover for the problems they were happening. Then it really did happen. Ghastly strummed across the strings and no one knew why it happened, but two, not one, two strings snapped. One he might be able to continue. Two was too many and now Misty panicked and nothing was coming from the keyboard. Zee had no choice, but to end the song.

"Sorry folks, seems we are having some technical difficulties."

The goblins were not pleased and were starting to leave. This was a problem for them. There was no way they had given Bunny and the others time to do what was needed.

Bunny stopped in his tracks. No! The music had stopped. Had the goblins realised it was just a distraction and got mad with them and captured the band. He was now in two minds as to what he should do. Not all the goblins had left. Perhaps he should just attack and have something from this. Blasta had heard it too and was trying to get out of the house. It was sealed shut. His first thought was that the falling snow had frozen to the door sealing him in. The damn music was back. He had even heard the announcement. Surely, they knew that he would be there to stop them. Or had that been there plan all along. To lure the goblins and then him away from the factory. That was it. This is why it was playing. The music was to entice the goblins away from the factory. He had no choice. Running upstairs, he picked something up and threw it at the window. One pane shattered the glass spilling to the floor below.

Then Bunny and the others heard the voice of Blasta.

"Don't listen. It's a trick. Protect the factory. Bunny was only part of the way back to the others on the other side of the road. The goblins were calling to each other. He was sure he could make out shapes and figures of others coming towards the factory in the snow. This was not good, really not good.

"PROTECT THE FACTORY," bellowed Blasta, at the top of his voice.

He was almost screaming it into the air. Zee and the gang had put their equipment down and were trying to follow the goblins through the snow. They too heard the sound of Blasta as it screeched across the town. Ghastly had pocketed his broken strings. He didn't like waste and so hung onto such things. Besides he always saw his playing as something magical and would never throw anything musical away.

Things were a mess, even though they had done their best. The snow was falling and settling on them. He was now back in front of them. They all stood there looking at him. Expectantly waiting for him to give the order. Blasta was screaming from the house. That was still a mystery to Bunny. The band had stopped playing and he was fearing the worst for them. The factory goblins were not cleared as much as he had hoped. Now he believed more would be arriving at any moment. To charge now was suicide. They would surely all fall or even be captured. This was not what he had planned for. Nor did he want them to risk themselves. It was foolish, who would rush forward now and risk themselves. This was sheer madness.

The noises were getting louder and the sounds of other voices travelling through the air. It was up to him to decide. Should they fall back. Everything was starting to seem hopeless and he dare not risk them. He looked around at them each face still looking and waiting. "

"Well Bunny," said Petra. "Are we doing this?"

He was about to say something and then Zee and the others appeared. They had been the other voices that had been calling to them. Now all of them were here, there was only one thing that Bunny could do right now.

**15**

The order was given. Everything had been considered. The odds were greatly stacked against them. Yet his decision came from none of that it was the reason for them all being here. Right now, at this second and what he said surprised even himself. Raising his hand, he yelled at the top of his voice.

"FOR CHRISTMAS."

Then without hesitation he gave the order. The one they had all been waiting for.

"CHARGE!".

None of them hesitated as they ran forward. Even though it was difficult to see with the snow falling from the sky. None of them cared about that. Only one thing was on their mind, saving their friends and Christmas. The reindeer ran forward and slammed their flanks into the goblins as they ran. This kind of weather was absolutely perfect for them. The reindeer did live at the north pole. The goblins barely saw them in the flurry of the snow falling, as they knocked them over. Bunny was like a ghost in the fall. His grey and white form was easily masked as he slapped one and then another. Misty was a ghost and drifted over to the goblins and went boo.

There was just one problem as it fell from the sky it impaired their vision and now, they had lost sight of the snow-covered factory. As large as it was the shape was almost from their sight. It didn't help with all the confused goblins running around trying to catch the reindeer. They were easily turned around.

"Where is the factory?" called Petra.

"That way," said Diggles. "I think."

They started to push their way forward to engage more goblins. Petra still had her hammer. It was a completely wooden one and did leave a nice bruise and if it connected just right, might even make lumps and bumps. Diggles was no fighter, but could certainly move around them and slap them a few times and annoy them. He was just as comfortable in the snow as the reindeer. Considering the little excursions, they had on their walks, which he would join in.

Now they heard the cries racing up the street. The goblins were not as familiar with the town and its layout. It had taken those who had gone to listen to Hallowed Screams, all this time to find their way back. Well at least the thick falling snow had aided them, in one sense. The problem was is that the snow was clinging to everything, even the side of the buildings. The factory had slowly started to disappear as it turned white, lost within the falling flakes. More goblins were starting to make it really hard to do anything. Cupid was nervous and a little apprehensive about what he could do to aid them. All he knew was how to use his bow and spread the love and joy that came from the magic of it. Being told that Santa could help had encouraged him to come north, but he was still locked up and he felt so useless. Ghastly found him stood all alone.

"Why so glum man?" he asked.

Cupid held up his bow. It wasn't like they didn't know.

"Still no luck I see," said Ghastly.

Then a thought struck him. Reaching into his pocket he pulled out his guitar strings.

"Perhaps one of these will be long enough and of use."

Cupid looked at what he was offering and realised from seeing the string less guitar on his back what they were.

"The strings I use are magical."

"Well isn't my playing magical. I have always thought so. That is why I play."

He held out his hand offering him the strings. Cupid felt like he couldn't refuse. He knew that Ghastly was only trying to be helpful. A string was actually long enough to do the job. He would feel really bad if he didn't string his bow as Ghastly watched. Cupid was used to doing this and soon the bow was restrung.

"Now I think you need to give it a test run," said Ghastly, smiling.

His quiver had plenty of arrows. The magic of his arrow wasn't enough it was when it was placed on the string it ignited the coming together of two parts. Like when his arrow struck it connected two together. One couldn't function without the other. Closing his eyes, he pulled back on the string and when he opened, he fired at the first two goblins he saw.

The magical arrow sped through the snow as if it wasn't even present. Not even a single flake could come to rest upon it. Like a firework igniting in the sky there was a flash, no longer than the blink of the eye and not too bright, so that no one knew what happened. However, if you were watching like Cupid and Ghastly then you could see it. You had to hold your eyes open, or you would miss it.

"Ah," sighed one of the goblins.

"What's wrong with you?" said the one stood nearby.

Both had been caught in the illumination of Cupids arrow.

"Just sad."

"Why?"

"All this hard work and no appreciation for it."

"I appreciate it," he said. "Come here."

Reaching out he gave his friend a hug. Then he said.

"Let's leave and build a snowman. No one will see us sneak off."

They were lost in the storm as they disappeared from sight. Ghastly could not believe it had actually worked. He knew his strings were not magical, but liked to believe that his music was. Perhaps that is all that Cupid had needed. Something to believe in. Or was the belief within him and all he needed was something to encourage it to emerge.

The others were still battling away in the storm. The fury of the flakes had not desisted and so they were no better off. Even finding a goblin to knock over was not easy. The reindeer were running around and around. Sprinter and Bounce heard the approaching goblins and from the cries that were heard through the storm they both charged. The goblins had not expected to be met by two reindeer. Sprinter was running around them. Some of the goblins were getting dizzy from trying to chase him. Their orders had been to capture them. Bounce was leaping and bounding around. His movements were so up and down that they were unable to keep a proper hold of him. Buck came to join in as he was able to hear all the noise and commotion going on through the storm. He was not as quick as his friends and the goblins could grab hold of him, but he lived up to his name. He bucked up and down the effect was intense as the goblins trying to snare him were tossed this way and that. Landing on their rears in the snow. They kept trying and no matter he would not let a single one take hold of him. The only problem was, is that the amount of noise they were making was leading them away from the factory and down the street. Soon the others started to appear and aided them in dealing with the goblins. Cupid was doing his best, but had not hit every target. The snow was a little too much and really made it hard to be able to get a clear shot at times. He had to be really careful not to actually shot those who were his friends. The last thing he needed was to give the goblins even more of an advantage.

Blasta had heard the music stop, but then it had briefly gone quiet. He could only assume that the goblins following him had heard and reacted to his orders. It was at least pleasing in that respect. Now more noise had broken out. He strained his ears to listen. The falling snow was making it hard to see and hear. As if obscuring his eyes and muffling the ears. He had been trying to find something to finish breaking the glass from where he had punctured a hole. The snow had slowly been coming in and the bedroom was slowly turning white. Not that Blasta cared. He was more concerned about those who were here causing problems stopping his plans from being fulfilled. Perhaps from the music playing that he was wrong and that it was not just the reindeer causing the problem. There was still that elf that had somehow untied himself and escaped right in front of a troll guard. That was still a mystery to him. Perhaps being an elf and living at the north pole he possessed some sort of magic that he was not aware of. Maybe that was how he had been able to elude him and the goblin army all this time. Well from what he was able to hear it sounded like his army was putting up a good fight and that made him smile. So long as he was winning, that is all that mattered to him.

The fight raged on. If it could be called that. Cupid had fired an arrow and missed the group he had targeted as a troll came running across his path and was caught in the rear. Now a rampaging troll, who had not connected to anyone as it had only struck him, was going around grabbing any and every one. He would pick them up and hug them. It was interesting to watch; he didn't hurt anyone. Except he not only disrupted the goblins, but the others too. Guess there was a down side to only trying to use his magic ability on one person.

For the troll to be able to get to everyone he was knocking them all over the place. No one was really having an advantage over the other and now it was chaos and bedlam as the troll grabbed everyone.

"Do something," cried Misty, as the troll ran through her.

Cupid was unsure what to do. He was never normally around to witness the effects of his work, as he would fire his arrow and move on. On the day he was needed there was no time as he needed to spread the love and keep going, much like Santa and Bunny with the work they did.

Cupid could only think of one thing to try and correct the situation. There was a troll on guard around the corner. He called to the one that was causing all the problems. Thinking that Cupid wanted a hug he ran towards him. Cupid just smiled as he saw the troll approaching and when he was almost upon him, he turned and called.

"Catch me if you can."

The troll thinking it was a game gave chase. Cupid didn't stop and ran around the corner. The large shape of the troll was even seen in the snow and he was able to determine the direction that he needed to run. The one behind him was almost upon him. Cupid called out to the one ahead of him. The large troll turned and started to run towards the two of them. That was all Cupid needed. He now pulled his bow and fired. Then as it struck, he ducked and slid across the top of the snow and went right past him. The troll who had been struck did not stop. Having been struck whilst running towards the other troll, had been enough. He ran straight into the arms of the other enamoured troll. Cupid turned as he came to a halt and witnessed two hugging trolls. Now he had to fight through the snow back to the others.

**16**

The chaos of that one troll had completely disrupted their charge. Having been lured away by the other trolls, rushing back from the failed concert, they had completely lost all sense of direction. Everything around them was white. Except the grey form of goblins that would come into sight. They were even having difficulty seeing each other. The only one that had been easy to see was the troll. That gave Bunny an idea.

"Everyone to me."

That may not have been the best choice of words either as the goblins heard it too. The reindeer and his other friends all heard and started to move to the sound of his voice, so did the trolls. That was not a good thing. The goblins had all heard and were now coming at them from all sides. Had it been a mistake for Bunny to call out and tell everyone to come to him. He should have realised that the goblins would hear too. Guess he wasn't thinking when he called for his friends.

There was nothing he could do now.

"Let's get them," he called.

Now as a reunited group they charged once again at the goblins. This was a much harder fight now, as the goblins knew where they were and started to get closer and closer to them. It was not only a problem for them, but now allowed them to know where their enemy was. At least they could now strike at the goblins. The snow seemed to be easing up. Or was that because they were all now so close to each other. They fought on hard, the reindeer were doing what they could. Yet eventually all would tire. This fight had gone on all too long and no one seemed to be winning. The goblins had failed to capture a single one of them. Those that Bunny and others had knocked over eventually got back to their feet. They weren't really a cruel bunch and had only wanted to fight and clear a path to the factory doors and open them to free their friends. Yet now it was unclear as to where the factory even was. Bunny really hoped that it was the snow clearing that was allowing them all to see each other so clearly now. Either that or they had all been able to clearly pinpoint him from the sound of his voice and were able to get really close to them all. Things were really not looking good for them now. Had there really been this many goblins?

All of them fought on, but it was soon becoming clearer. The snow was starting to subside and they realised that they had travelled some distance down the street and the factory was now out of reach. Unfortunately, they were committed to the situation at hand. If they gave up now, they would fall prey to the goblins. All they could do was fight on, but to what end. They were slowly being forced further and further away. This had turned out to be a bad plan. Was it even possible to claw their way back from such a situation? Nothing they seemed to do was making a difference. At least none of them had been captured like poor Glitz. As the snow had started to clear he had been able to see his friends and knew that they had come. On seeing them he had tried to break free, but the rope was around his neck and if he strained too much it hurt. He was able to walk the length of the factory door, but that was it. Glitz felt so helpless there.

The goblins were trying there hardest to try and corner them. It was obvious what they were doing. Yet, they too were tiring. The reindeer had been a little too energetic for their liking and the rabbit was just as bad.

"This is bad. What can we do?" cried Diggles.

"Don't give up," replied Bunny.

Diggles knew he was right. Petra had one solution up her sleeve. It was a little extreme, but so was the fact of them losing this fight. Dare she mention what she had concocted?

"Sugar," she said.

"What?" said Bunny.

Petra looked over at Diggles. He knew what she meant the reindeer had been uncontrollable especially Sprinter.

"Not a lot we can do about that," he said, fending off a goblin.

She smiled back at him. The pack on her back was brought around to the front.

"I have sort of been experimenting with hydrolysis of sugars to create glucose syrup."

The pack was filled with hardened sugar around a soft glucose syrup centre. They were basically sugar overload. This was NOT something that would be recommended to be done by anyone. Petra had not originally intended for them to be used this way, but had come prepared anyway. Now she handed one to Diggles and another to Bunny. They put them in their mouths and bit into the sugar coating and felt the incredible sugary centre. Being in this state would help to have it travel around their bodies quicker, but could lead to potential side effects. Petra quickly tossed others through the air. She dared not risk anyone having more than one at a time. However, the one that she threw to Misty passed straight through her. Nuts had not yet received his. All the others had and were just waiting for the effect to kick in. He reached down and grabbed hold of it in his mouth. The taste of the pure sugar was so sweet to taste that he couldn't resist. It was a compulsive reaction for the sugary taste. He leapt towards Petra and knocked her pack from her hands. Several of the glucose balls dropped to the ground.

"No!" cried Petra, as he quickly gobbled them all up.

The amount of sugar that was coursing around him was taking its effect and he was suddenly so excitable and out of control. The others had an almost immediate increase of energy and were slowly pushing back against the goblins. Who were trying to understand how they had suddenly found a burst of energy? Nuts now lived up to his name. He was feeling incredible and literally went loopy. His speech had accelerated. Now the effect of too much sugar kicked in. He was bucking and prancing around. He was unable to help it when he leaned forward and kicked with his legs backwards the troll was bowled over. The goblins took one look at Nuts and realised they had a major problem.

"Can't stop, can't stop. Gotta save Santa."

He kept going and going. The attack on the troll had caused the goblins to back away from him. This gave them an opportunity to push forward and make their way back up the street.

The other one who was affected by all of this was Princess. She rarely ate sugary products. It didn't look good for a Princess to have rotten teeth, was her reason. Even the one sugar ball was like an instant overload to her. Prior to starting the fight Zee and Madi had helped her pick an outfit for the occasion. She was mostly in black like the band. Upon her head was a dark black wig. Her eyes had been covered around the edges and looked all dark and evil. Now with added effect of the sugar thrill. She was racing up to the goblins and screaming. Princess was not exactly a fighter. The effect of her make-up and black outfit and hair was scarier than seeing her on Halloween. Princess let out a considerable number of vocal screams. Like a howling banshee she shattered their ear drums. Even Madi was impressed and accompanied her with howls and screams. The goblins were starting to back away. The madness they were faced with right now was overwhelming. Some had become so scared of the three of them that they had ran away.

Blasta had cleared the window entirely of glass he was taking no chances. The snow had finally cleared and he could see that this army had found all of the culprits that had been causing him so many problems. He was not in the best position where he was, but was able to see more than the reindeer were involved. His troops were pushing them further away from his line of sight. That would not do they had them where they needed them. If they let them get away it would not be good. He knew that without leadership they would lose them. Quickly looking around he started to look for a way to escape this place. The window was smashed, but he didn't fancy just jumping out. He prepared a rope made from the sheets. It didn't matter to him how much of a mess he made the room was already ruined. A broken window and then the snow had come in. Everything was covered in snow. It had soaked and saturated everything. The room was a mess and completely destroyed. Now he had the rope. He pushed over the wardrobe. Then the bed was pushed towards the window. One end was wrapped around the fallen wardrobe and then jammed behind the bed. Now he started to lower himself down and out of the window. He took his time as things above were moving. It was not the best or easiest thing. Now there was a sudden movement from above as the bed started to crack and crumble. It was only a wooden frame with slats across it. Not the best of designs.

Blasta had to jump for it. Not that it was that far. He was on the ground and looked around. The snow was almost stopped. That was good. It had certainly thickened on the untrodden areas. He had to lift his legs high to wade through it. This part of town had only really been used by him and the odd troll. Once he was free of it and on the road, he ran as quickly as he could. The last thing he wanted was to lose the advantage the troops had achieved without him. Blasta turned the corner and was witnessing the display of a screaming reindeer and a lunatic. Some of the goblins were starting to run. He grabbed hold of several that were close to him and pushed them towards the others.

"STAND YOUR GROUND," he bellowed.

Now Blasta was there it was unclear what they feared the most. Him or the savage like reindeer. They still hadn't reached the factory, but had gained some ground back. Now the goblins stood and linked arms. It was an attempt to create a line across the road and stop them from moving forward. They dare not disobey Blasta.

He was still barking orders trying to get them to achieve victory. Now he was actually standing behind the troops Bunny was raging and really wanted to slap and kick him. Blasta called for the troops to start to circle and surround them. It was not an easy thing to do with houses on either side of the road. The goblins were attempting to sneak around the houses. There was too wide a perimeter to cover. Some of the goblins were being enclosed with them. They hadn't even realised that a wall was forming behind them. Blasta was looking pleased with himself it wouldn't be long before they were all contained and trapped. It would not be easy to get them all, but if he was able to get most of them, then he would consider it a victory, as there would be too few of them to attempt this again and he had many goblins.

**17**

The sugar rush had worn off for most of them. It was getting difficult again. The goblins were still approaching it was like a wall was closing in on them slowly. They could run. It was the only option open to them right now. They goblins still hadn't got completely behind them. If they didn't make the decision soon then they would be trapped and everything would definitely be lost. It was a tough choice to make. Blasta was there. It would be impossible to hide if they ran. He would hunt them down. Yet, if they stayed, he would more than likely win.

"What do we do?" said Princess.

All eyes were on Bunny. He knew that would happen, as soon as he arrived things had been down to him with making the decisions. More than likely it was because he mostly worked alone and had to think fast. Chick looked after the eggs, but it was always he who delivered them. She always made the best chocolate and everyone wanted to steal it from him. That is why he had to stay in shape and had learned to fight off anyone wanting the chocolate he had. It would seem this wasn't much different, except for those around him. You did what you had to for friends and that's what these were. He wanted to tell them all to run and flee. That they would get another chance, but Blasta had seen them all. The chances of them all getting away was slipping by. He just didn't know what to do except keep fighting.

One had never joined the fight since being here. The only reason they were here in the first place is that he had provided the transportation to get the members of Hallowed Scream here. Since arriving he had remained in doors. Usually sleeping, which is what he had tended to do during the daytime. It was considered an emergency to get his friends here. Even though they rarely spent time with him, mostly because he didn't leave home and was therefore no fun. Vic still considered them all to be his friends. Now those he tended to hang with mostly had been suspended from the underside of Petra's roof. Some would venture out from time to time. One of those times had been last night, but when the fighting had started, they had failed to return to the workshop. They were too busy watching, what little they could see, of the fight that had started. Now they had turned tale as they witnessed those that they knew, were in trouble. As they entered through the open window, the pings and clicks of their chatter was instantly heard by Vic. He was dozing, well more like a cat nap. He sat up from where he had been laid and looked at the few bats who had appeared.

"So, they are in trouble."

He knew that he had not done anything and the daylight sun was not kind to him. He picked up his hat and put on his shades. Now he walked towards the front shutters, which were rarely used as there was also a side door too. Once it was opened, he spoke back to them with similar pings and clicks. Those who had recently arrived were the first out of the shutters. Many bats had arrived with him as the band needed to move a lot of equipment now in the fading flakes a black mass appeared in the bright sky. Vic walked in the direction of the dark shadowy cloud that had just formed because of the mass of bats.

He turned the corner sometime later. The bats leading had led them all to the rear of the group. It was their only means of escape. Blasta could see a solitary dark figure appear and standing alone. Vic was so easy to see against the white of the town. As everything during the storm had been covered. Now he raised his head and looked at Blasta. Not that he would realise who he was as he had his shades on. Bunny saw that Blasta was staring, but his eyes were looking past them. He glanced over his shoulder to see what had distracted him. A solitary figure stood behind them.

"Is that Vic?" he asked the others.

Zee turned around.

"Yep, must be sleep walking."

Then while she watched his hands went up above his head. That was weird, did he normally do that while he was sleep walking. Then they came down sharp and fast. Blasta looked up as did Zee. Except she was the only one to react to the situation.

"DUCK!" she cried at the top of her voice.

She had to repeat it as no one could understand why she would be calling that. As they call complied on her second request the goblins looked up, as the sky had suddenly turned black. They screamed and started to run. Blasta had instantly lost control of his troops. The goblins had seen the flapping wings of the mammalian creatures, but that wasn't what scared them. It was the sharp teeth and the look in their eyes. The one that said they were coming for them.

As soon as the goblins started to scatter Bunny spoke out quickly.

"NOW!"

They stood up as the bats passed over head and launched an attack of their own. Blasta was still shouting orders and calling them wimps. They were only bats. Well sharp teethed ones. Some of the goblins dare not disobey him and even though some of the bats had latched on to them and sunk their teeth into them, they stood and fought. It was not an easy thing to do, but they really did fear Blasta more. Bunny launched into his own attack. The actions of Vic and the bats, followed by Bunny shouting 'now' had inspired the others to renew the fight and even though they were so tired from trying to get past the goblins the attacked with them. The numbers had suddenly dwindled considerably.

Santa was inside with the elves. They had not been able to send a signal to let the others know that they could aid. The storm had blanketed the windows and it was completely dark inside. Santa stood at the front door. For the last day they had been trying their hardest to open it. Except it would not budge. Something was seriously wrong. The door would normally be opened and closed every day. It never stuck. As they were in and out of the factory during the day time too. This was most odd and peculiar. It would seem that with it not being used for more than a week that the door had completely frozen solid. There was little that Santa or even with the combined help of the elves could do. Perhaps that is why they had run out of food since freeing themselves. Blasta had obviously struggled too, or at least those tasked with feeding them. There was nothing any of them could do. They had all prepared to face the army of goblins, but had been unable to get out of the factory. It was even impossible to see what was happening as the snow clung to the windows. They were able to hear the shouting of Blasta and from how he was giving orders it didn't sound like things were going too well.

Bunny was slapping them with his ears really hard. He had no idea where his energy had suddenly come from. The bats continued to keep harassing the goblins, but those that were left didn't seem to be bothered. After the initial attack they had become used to the biting. Even the scary faces and sharp teeth did nothing to phase them. They may have had the wall collapse and allow for the attackers to gain some distance back to the factory. Many had run away. Blasta was not impressed, but he was not getting back anytime soon. The bats were still flapping and chasing them around town. Nuts had finally calmed down, but wasn't doing too well he had basically been on overload. His legs were starting to fail him.

"Vic, called Zee. "Nuts needs help."

Like Cupid, Vic was no fighter. The bats did that for him. He ran forward, which was unusual for him and led Nuts away.

The attack of the bats had been well timed as the goblins who had been sneaking around had been chased away and so their rear was still unguarded. This meant that they no longer had a problem about being attacked from behind. With Vic there too they were able to fight without worry. Cupid had fallen back with Vic. He didn't want him to come under attack. He was the only one who could call to the bats. None of the others knew how to speak to the creatures. Therefore, he had taken it upon himself to see that he was protected. Vic helped Nuts to lie down. He needed rest right now his body was completely exhausted. Nuts had done what he could, but he would not be re-joining the fight. It had taken its toll on him. For a short while his insane madness had helped.

Cupid was able to see the goblins more easily and engaged some of the goblins that were running away. It was more difficult to target those around where his friends were fighting. The next best thing was to aid the bats. If he relieved some of them by dealing with a few goblins it meant that they could chase others. This meant that his friends could make better progress. The shouting from Blasta could clearly show that he was not happy. Having only recently re-joined the fight he was almost in a position to take control and win. That was now in question. The surprise of the bats had caught everyone off guard, even his attackers. It would seem that it was an unplanned event. He certainly wouldn't be forgetting about this incident.

He called to one of the goblins nearby. Diggles could see that he was talking to him and giving him orders. It was unclear as to what was being said. All he knew is that it probably wasn't good. Watching him run off and past the factory really wasn't a good sign.

"Where do you suppose he went?" said Diggles.

"Who?" asked Petra.

"Blasta just said something to one of the goblins and then he ran off."

She had been too busy dealing with those around her. They may have gained some ground and were slowly getting closer to the factory, but the number of goblins had been vast and they still had a considerable number to deal with. Even if the bats had scared off a considerable amount.

Now Blasta started to call out to those who had run away and promising that they would all be punished, severely if they didn't return to the fight. They were considerably scared by his words and a few were starting to make an effort to get closer. Vic called out to the bats letting them what was happening. The screeched loudly. The goblins who had been scared into running away earlier were now even more scared than before. This was not happening. They had been promised that this attack to stop Christmas would be easy. No one had said that it would be Halloween all over again.

**18**

The fight seemed more evenly matched. Then the goblin who had been sent running appeared, in his wake came several trolls. This was not good. Even Bunny would have a hard time taking them on.

"Look out!" called Blazen.

The trolls had been ordered to attack. He lowered his antlers and prepared to meet them. The troll grabbed hold of his antlers and the two of them started to tussle. Now the other reindeer copied and charged at them. Sprinter and Bounce tackled one together and the force of them both was enough to knock one of them over. The troll got up in a rage and screamed out. Vic immediately called for some of the bats to fly at him and harass. The troll was waving his arms around in the air and was no longer able to engage the reindeer. It was not easy to fight someone that kept moving like they did. The bats knew that the troll's skin was too thick and that they would not be able to bite him. The goblins that had been running and hiding from the bats were not starting to take refuge in the nearby houses. This gave Petra an idea and she grabbed her pack and pulled out two containers of adhesive.

"Diggles," she called.

As he looked across at her she threw him a container. He looked at her, not sure what she had in mind.

"Quickly," she said, about the goblins hiding in doors.

The snow storm had completely passed and now the sun was starting to peek.

"Remember only a few drops. It will be enough."  
She ran to the nearest door and four squirts later was running to the back door. The suns heat. Even though only weak was enough. The goblins inside had seen her run to the house. Yet she had not entered this was peculiar, then she had darted across the window in front of them and now they went to leave. The front door was completely sealed. They couldn't get out. Now they ran to the rear and found that she had somehow been able to seal them in. At least the bats could not get to them in here.

Petra and Diggles continued to look for goblins who were hiding. This way they were able to eliminate them from the fight. Vic saw what they were doing. Cupid was busy using his bow and keeping the goblins away. It was clear what he was doing and although he didn't like it Blasta had ordered them to stay away from them. Things were now starting to get out of hand. It was the most chaotic display of a fight he had ever seen. No one was really engaging the other like you would expect. It was more like school kids running around a playground. It was mayhem and mischief come to life before his eyes. Yet, even with all of that he still barked his orders, nothing seemed to slow him down. Those nearby to him were starting to regroup. No one seemed to know how they had been able to carry on.

Now those around Blasta were ordered to capture Petra and Diggles. They were hindering his efforts and sealing his troops in the houses. At least now he understood how he had been trapped. The one who had collected the trolls was ordered to find one more. There was one that as just down the road. He was still stood outside of Santa's office. He had failed in allowing someone to get past him. As he had broken the door and was found lying flat inside the property he had been made to stay in the doorway and not let anyone in. He had been sad. The nice reindeer had been good to him. Then something went wrong that he couldn't explain and then all he knew after that was waking up to Blasta shouting at him. The nice reindeer had gone. Now he was being fetched to go and aid in the fight. Blasta had no idea, which troll had been collected. Now the goblin was ordering to break in the doors of the ones that had been sealed.

This was not good as they watched their efforts starting to be undone. The troll beat on the door. The glue was holding and Petra smiled. It certainly was good stuff she had created.

"We have to hurry, Diggles."

The two of had decided to work together and one went to the front the other the back. It ensured that the goblins inside were not able to get out before they had finished. Still, even with all their efforts the goblins had been able to stop them getting to the factory. Glitz was not calm and his pacing had increased considerably. The snow was starting to melt from the recent fall. Not all of it, but certainly that, which had been covering the buildings.

Santa, said one of the elves. He was attempting to peer out of the first window that had started to clear it was on the side of the factory and there were only a few windows there. The front had the most windows where the shutter doors were. It was a large wooden door that when you opened it pushed to one side. Being able to look outside allowed him to see what was happening. As he had expected from the music that had been heard. He could see the members of Hallowed Scream. Bunny was there too and so were the reindeer along with Petra and Diggles. He was curious about the bats though. They were running all over the place, but the goblins closest to the factory had remained in place. Even though they had been attacked by bats they had remained at their posts. Things were a mess out there. He knew that even though they had tried so hard that they were not able to completely take back the town. Blasta was the one who needed to be dealt with and that one person to do it was him. The door was still stuck. He needed the sun to move around and warm up the front of the door and melt the ice. They would just have to hang on and then he would have to hope that he was able to aid them.

The troll had been trying to push the door open, but it was no good he was unable to break the bond that had sealed them in.

"Break the door," cried the goblin.

He had been charged with the task of freeing them. Blasta needed all of them free. He did not want Christmas to go ahead. This was a year that they could turn the world against itself and have naughty all year round. It had been something the goblins had tried before and continued to keep doing. Not necessarily the same event. They would suddenly appear at one every now and then. Or even before, like now to try and thwart the efforts of those who rewarded goodness and kindness. They didn't like it; they were mean though.

The troll slammed his fist on the door. It wasn't, because he was told. It was that he was angry and wanted to go home. Blasta had been mean to him and he didn't like that. They had been promised much and so far, they had received nothing in return. Now he let out his anger and frustration on the door. The first punch cracked a panel on the door. The second then started to split the centre structure of the door. The goblin stood at his side encouraging. Telling him to keep going and that Blasta would be pleased with his efforts. The troll had stopped listening a long time ago. He was angry nothing Blasta said or could do now would be able to change the effect of what he had done by shouting at him. The door was just a means of him letting go. The third hit punched out the cracked panel. The central support of the door was close to cracking. It would only take one more hit.

"Do it for Blasta," said the goblin.

That was it he lost it; the troll was in a rage. His biceps seemed to suddenly increase in size as he tensed his body. He took one look at the goblin and lowered his face towards him. His eyes were fixed on him hard.

"I HATE BLASTA."

He then stood and his whole body tensed with the rage inside of him as he screamed to the sky above. No one heard the troll hit the door, because of his almighty scream. It was so loud that everyone seemed to freeze to the spot. The poor goblins on the other side only heard the scream too and were unable to move from the hallway. The door was struck with such force that it shattered and the frame was ripped from the wall. Those goblins inside were floored and knocked out by the sheer force of the door as it went travelling along the hallway.

Well the door was removed, but there were no goblins to come and aid. They were knocked out and on the floor. All they had done was succeed in aiding their attackers, Blasta would not be pleased with that. The troll was already moving towards another house. The goblin who was requested by Blasta to free those imprisoned stood in front of the troll to try and stop him as it was not going well. He was in too much of a rage. If he could have changed red all over to match the rage that was fuming within, he would have. The troll didn't even look at the goblin as his hand swung in his direction. Lifting him from the ground he was sent into the gatepost of the house they had just left and was laid out cold. Now he started to walk across the street.

"Not good," said Diggles.

"Petra was still with him and looked across at where he was staring. The troll was on the move. He had reached the next house. Not because there were goblins, as there weren't. With a single punch, unleashing the rage within he punched the centre of the door. The frame instantly cracked and split. Now the troll sent a second punch hurtling in the door, completely destroying the frame the door went inwards and across the hallway.

A troll on the rampage was a bad sign. The thing was he didn't really aid either of them. Blasta had heard the cry too and looked out across at where it came from and saw the door smashed from its frame. That was also when he witnessed the goblin being knocked away. Something had gone terribly wrong. The second house had just lost a door too. Now the troll moved onto the next one. Blasta recognised the troll as the one that had let him down before. He had never been able to work out why Santa's office had been broken into. Blasta did remember telling this troll off, severely. Right now, he was hoping that he wasn't holding a grudge against him. He had no idea how a troll of his size and strength had been bested. He was one of the strongest he had been able to persuade. Although he had failed to deliver on his promise to him, but having failed him, then he felt that it was justified. Now he turned his attention back to the chaos in front of him. He was slowly taking back control. They were all tiring, but he still had the numbers. Even the bats were less as they were exhausted too. He still had a chance to end Christmas.

**19**

Glitz was in a bad way. He felt so useless. His temper was starting to rise, which was unlike him. He was stood in front of the factory main door and was so angry he kicked backwards with his feet. The noise sounded really loud to those inside. As he struck some of the snow that had stuck to the windows shifted and because of the sun having now moved around, it was starting to melt. Glitz felt good for having kicked the door and did it again. The snow started to fall from the windows around the factory. The vibrations were intense. All inside were wondering what was happening.

"Santa," one elf enquired, as he climbed on a crate to take a look.

The windows were a little too high on this side. He looked through the window and spied Glitz on the other side. There had been no way to tell that he was there before. Now, with a smile on his face he turned and looked at the elves in the room.

"Glitz is tied up on the other side. I am guessing he is as frustrated as we are."

He turned back to peek out. No one was looking in his direction. They were all too busy, but he could tell they were tiring that was not good for those he knew, but good where the goblins were concerned. Santa kicked the inside of the door.

Glitz was puzzled. Had the door just knocked back to him. He looked around; there it was again. Then, as he kept looking left and right there was a tap on the window above him. His head turned and looked upwards. His eyes went wide. Now his mouth opened to cry out his name. Santa quickly put a finger to his lips. Then he pointed to the opening end of the shutter doors and kept repeating. It was clear that Glitz could not hear him as he didn't respond. All he could do was repeat his actions in the hope that he would eventually understand. He climbed down and moved to where he wanted Glitz to kick the door. Glitz had followed and was slowly starting to understand. It was not possible to see through the window from here. Santa kicked it really hard. Glitz turned around and leaned forward and 'SLAM'. He kicked back with all of his force. Santa tried the door and then kicked again. Glitz repeated, but even harder. The door still would not budge, but something else was about to happen. The noise had been so loud that it had even caught the attention of Blasta and now believing that Glitz was attempting to break into the factory screamed.

"STOP THAT REINDEER, NOW!"

The sound had not only caught his attention, but of others too. One of those was the troll that had been smashing in the doors of the houses. He still hadn't calmed, but now his attention was pulled elsewhere. He glanced in the direction of the sound of the banging and spied a reindeer. Then he heard Blasta call out to his troops to get it. That was when Glitz raised his head. The troll saw it was the nice reindeer he had met several days ago that he had been petting. He liked the reindeer and did not like that Blasta had just ordered the goblins to attack it. The reindeer was the only one who had been nice to him since he had been here. No one would lay a hand on him.

The air was filled with a roar, followed by, "NO!" Now it felt like the whole of the ground was shaking as the troll came charging from the other end of the street. Everyone cleared a path as he started to pick up speed. The goblins were flung left and right as he stampeded through them. Blasta had to run as he approached the factory. The trolls had grabbed hold of the reindeer. That sent him over the top and he grabbed them one at a time and threw them through the air. Now the goblins were afraid to approach Glitz. The troll gave him a hug and then saw the rope. With one tug it was pulled free from where it had been anchored. Now Glitz was free. The troll looked at where he had been kicking.

"My friends are trapped inside," he said, looking at the troll.

The troll looked at the door.

"Santa is in there," said Glitz.

"Santa," moaned the troll.

Now he wrapped his hands around the handle of the door and yelled out as he started to pull on the handle. Blasta could do nothing, but watch as the troll pulled on the door. There was a crack. The ice had started to split. There was a considerable amount that lined the edge of the door. It had been dripping from the roof above and had then frozen in the cold chill air. Pulling still there was a larger crack. The line of the crack started to race upwards. Travelling along the line of ice that had been steadily forming over the days they had been stuck inside. It was almost at the top, but the troll pulled again. The ice shattered and went flying through the air. The door came back with such a force and there stood in front of both of them was Santa. Now normally when he greeted someone, he would say 'ho, ho, ho'. Not this time though.

"Get the goblins," he called

That was not good, at least for the goblins. Blasta had failed, Santa was free. This really was not good. He called out to the goblins to attack. The elves spilled from the factory, armed only with their tools for crafting and the need to take back their town they all came running out and screaming.

Santa saw that Blasta was now surrounded by goblins. Slowly they had all been falling back to his position. It would not be easy and this was by no means over. They had not been able to complete their orders and this annoyed Santa immensely. Although right now there were a lot of goblins who were not on Santa's good list. The others were now able to catch his breath.

"Diggles, Petra and the rest of you, thank you," said Santa, as they all came running up to them. The elves were all stood ready. When they had emerged from the factory, they had intended to engage the goblins, but now they were all forming up around Blasta and had therefore hesitated.

"Well," said Bunny. "It didn't quite go as expected."

"I see Mrs Claus was able to make contact with you," said Santa, as he looked across the street.

Blasta was just staring back. It was like a stand-off between the two parties.

"So, Santa what do you intend to do," said the head foreman.

"Well we can't resume work with Blasta and the goblins still here. I have an idea, but it means rounding them up. They will be tired and we aren't," Santa started to say. "However, I have one request."  
"Sure Santa anything."

"Blasta is mine."

Now the order was given to capture and round up the goblins. There was no snow storm hindering their vision. All of the goblins who had not been freed stood in front of them. This is something that Blasta had not prepared for. His plan had been perfectly executed when they first arrived. He had waited until the elves were all inside the factory, they had it completely surrounded not one of them could escape and then one elf had somehow foiled his plans. He had first thought it was the one who had been hung upside down outside of the factory and that they had somehow been able to escape. As he saw them all run towards Santa, he realised that there were two elves. She must have been the one to free the others and together they had encouraged the reindeer and the others to get involved. That particular elf was one he most certainly would not forget. At some point he would deal with her, but right now he had to deal with everyone that stood in his way. There was one good thing though. The raging troll had disappeared and if he wasn't mistaken so had the

reindeer that had been freed.

The goblins were stood in front of him and were being given their orders. One thing he had noticed is that they all stood in front of the open doors of the factory. If he was quick enough, he might be able to surround them and force them all back inside. This was too good an opportunity to miss. At least then he would have all of them in one place, no one would be able to ruin his plans and he would still be able to achieve his goal. He prepared to call out to his men.

"Get them."

The goblins charged the elves and Santa. This is one thing that Santa had not expected. In the few minutes of not fighting had they recovered sufficiently enough to be able to attack again. Looking at the way they raced across towards them. There was no question about it, the goblins seemed renewed with energy. He had been unable to hear what Blasta had been saying to them. At least they had one thing in their favour the trolls had not joined them in this attack. They were all here this time. They may still not have the numbers of the goblin army, but they would not be denied in saving Christmas. Santa definitely was not letting Blasta take away this time of year. So, he did the only thing he could. He too shouted out.

"Charge."

They were all surprised that he had given the order, but the look on his face said it all. He had the determination in his eyes that meant there was no way that Blasta would have this day. They were all here now standing side by side as one. They were not prepared to let another day be lost, because of the madness of the goblins. Racing forward the two groups clashed. Well they came together. It wasn't like they had swords and shields. Some of the goblins did have clubs and sticks. That wasn't good, but the elves had their tools. Hammers, spanners, wrenches and screw drivers were all shaking in the air as they ran towards each other. The goblins screamed and cried out. The elves had never done anything like this before and thought it was what was needed, so reciprocated the act.

Now the two met in the middle of the street. Blocking and parrying with their tools as the goblins tried to force them backwards, but they were having none of it and continued to hold their ground. Santa hadn't moved and neither had Blasta. The two just stood staring at each other. If Santa moved to quickly then there was a strong chance that Blasta could run. He needed to catch him and make him pay for his actions. Not that Santa was cruel, but nonetheless Blasta had to be stopped. What he had done was wrong. The goblins may be naughty and mischievous and thinking that by stopping Christmas that all those who didn't receive a gift would be disappointed. Yet that is not necessarily how it would have worked. Things never always work out how you want. Just like how Blasta had intended to keep them locked in the factory. They had eventually found a way out and were now free. There was no way that Santa would allow Blasta to capture them again. What he needed to do was get to him without him escaping. For now, he was watching him. Those in front had now engaged the goblins, but until he stopped Blasta then this madness would continue.

**20**

Santa had stood waiting long enough. If he didn't do something then everyone would be back to where they were before he had escaped the factory. They would all be tired and they had put in so much effort to achieve their goal. There was no other choice. He caught a glimpse of Blasta staring at him out of the corner of his eye. Santa smiled to himself and then quickly looked at Blasta whilst still smiling. His eyes went wide. That was enough for him Santa took one step and then another. Then was off.

He leapt over those scrapping on the floor and went for Blasta. Having seen the smile, he knew his luck had run out and his time was up. This was not good and he ran. This was the last thing he needed. Blasta ran as fast as his little goblin legs would allow him. The crunching of snow was getting louder as Santa came bounding down the road. Even with his grey hair and long beard he was incredibly fit. All those sacks and presents delivered in one night he really needed to keep in shape.

"Come here Blasta. You're only making it worse on yourself."

Blasta dodged between two houses. Santa was moving too fast, but slid on the ice, where the snow had been compacted and looked where he had gone. He ignored chasing him and ran further down the street. Santa had watched, which way he turned. Now he knew what to do. Bounding over the fences one after the other like a hurdle race he was slowly reaching the end of the street.

Blasta had turned to his right and was running down the street. Little did he realise, that as it turned right that it was bringing straight back towards Santa. He had run to where he knew that Blasta would appear. Looking back to see where Santa was, he got the shock of his life as Santa grabbed hold of him and said.

"Got you."  
Blasta looked up at him. Now he smiled at Santa. With a tug on his beard, he called out with the pain as he had not expected that to happen. Wriggling and squirming he was free of Santa, but chose to run straight past him while he got over the pain. Blasta picked up the pace. Slid on the next patch of ice to gain even more distance. Grabbing the lamp post he turned the corner as he was sprinting like crazy for the edge of town. All he cared for right now was to escape Santa.

The big guy rubbed his chin quickly and was then gone again. Blasta had given him the slip that was not good. He had no intention of letting him get away. Even if he ran away, the rest of the goblins would soon fall in line. There could be a down side to that. He could turn up with reinforcements a few days later, but if he was to stop him for good then Blasta needed to be caught and punished. He could see him at the far end of the street. In those few seconds he had made good ground and was a considerable distance ahead of him. It was a good job he always wore his boots. He quickly dodged between the buildings in that direction and was then running across the field. Blasta turned to look behind him and suddenly saw him charge towards him from a completely different direction. This was not good. Why wouldn't he just let him leave? Blasta had to turn right and run away. The snow was deep here and his speed started to slow considerable. Santa was gaining so quickly. How do you think he had become such a stronger runner? It was all of the running through the thick snow. He had become so used to it that he knew how to maximise his speed as he ran. Now he launched himself in the air as Blasta started to slow.

A shadow was suddenly cast over Blasta. He couldn't help, but look back and that was when he saw the huge bulk of Santa falling towards him. There was nowhere to go, he couldn't avoid it. SPLAT! Santa landed on him and knock him to the ground. The snow had been blown in by the wind here and a considerable drift of snow had built up the two were lost and were then suddenly falling and rolling as they rolled down the slope of short hill. Blasta tried his hardest to pull free of Santa's grip, but it was no use as he was held to tightly. I mean he had pulled a door from its frame. Do you really think that Blasta was going to escape this time? Now the two of them walked slowly back to town. The snow had been so thick that it had clung to both of them. They turned the corner back into town where the others were still fighting and a goblin screamed at the top of his voice.

"Abominable snowman."

It was such an exclamation that all stopped, even half way from attacking and turned to see. Sure, enough two white objects walked towards them. Although it was more like the abominable snowman and his pet.

Santa gave himself a good shake as he got closer and it soon became clearer as to who it was.

"NOW STOP!" he called.

The goblins dare not move. They had no idea who he held. Santa could see everyone staring at the object at the side of him. With a single hand he lifted Blasta from the ground and fiercely shook him. The snow started to cascade from his body revealing who it was. The elves all cried out 'hooray' with joy. The goblins could have run, but knew that if they did that the chances were that Santa would only chase them down like he had Blasta. They raised their arms in submission. Santa smiled, finally peace had been restored.

The elves started to gather them all up. There was a lot of them, the trolls were ones that were the hardest to keep under control, but Santa had an idea regarding them. Well it was Christmas and in the past the trolls had been helpful to those at the town in the north pole.  
"Right you lot I am sure that Blasta made some sort of promise to you and right now you are most definitely off my good list."

When he said that they all dropped their heads. He kind of had an idea that they would like that he was displeased with them for aiding the goblins. Santa wasn't interested in why they had all been helping them. What he did have, was a rather large problem. Time was almost up there was less than a week now until he had to make his delivery and there was no way that they could look after the goblins and complete the list of gifts that were on order. He also couldn't allow the goblins to go free without finding some sort of punishment for them.

"I have decided that if you chose to help me know in our hour of need then you might be forgiven and find a way to regain favour with me," said Santa.

Now one lifted his head.

"Anything Santa. We are really sorry we were led to think that it was more of a prank then it became out of control and Blasta then started to make threats."

Santa had already raised his hand. It didn't matter. There was precious little time left and they would have to work all the hours available to them and even then, it might not be enough.

"I would like for you all to aid in ensuring that the goblins behave. I have no time to punish them right now, but I feel that it would be wrong to let them just go with the amount of disruption that has been caused."

"With pleasure," said the one who had spoken.

It would be good to take control of the goblins after having tricked and misled them and then forced them to continue or suffer. With Santa on their side the goblins would not be able to take control of them again. So, now an agreement was struck between Santa and trolls. If the goblins ever tried anything again, they were to tell him immediately. No one would be able to trick them again. You see, even though most people when seeing the large form of the troll and not so pretty face, believed that they were mean and bad. Was just an image that he been placed in others heads and over time a bad picture had formed, but they were by no means a gentle giant either. They certainly had a mean streak as seen with the one smashing in the doors. Although he and Glitz still hadn't been seen.

Anyway, the trolls took over guarding the goblins. Right now, there was not a lot that anyone could do with them. The reindeer stood close by too, but Diggles and Petra both offered to help Santa and the other elves in the workshop. They needed everyone. Even the band, Bunny and Cupid offered to help. The most surprising one was Vic. Well it would help to keep him out of the sunlight. If he didn't help, he would only lie down and go to sleep.

Things were slow going at the start as they had to refresh themselves with how far they had got before being interrupted. This was not easy to get back into the swing of things. They were all feeling a little disheartened with the delay and knew that it was an almost impossible task to be able to pick things up. Diggles and Petra assembled a separate table for them and the new volunteers to work on as they were inexperienced. Considering he only looked after the reindeer and the cleaning of the factory, Diggles actually knew what he was doing and immediately took charge of the table they were working on. Even Petra was impressed and all this time she had been at her workshop and working on things and then giving her explanations, the chances were that Diggles understood everything she had said and at no point had he let on. He had just let her ramble on. Now he was in charge and took control. The operations were broken down and every one had something to do. Santa however was not surprised, as Diggles hadn't always done the job he did now. He had once worked in the factory when he was a lot younger. The others might have forgotten, but Santa never forgot anything. Especially those who were naughty.

A day went by and progress had been slow. It was not good. Santa was concerned that they would not make the orders in time, but no matter what he kept encouraging the elves that everything would be fine and no one would be let down. The factory doors had been left open. Even with the trolls ensuring that the goblins behaved they were just stood or sat there. It was a shame to have them there like that. Even though they had practically destroyed Christmas he couldn't help, but feel sorry for them. Then an idea came to him. He left what he was doing and walked outside.

"Diggles, Snart," he called.

The two were busy, but couldn't ignore Santa as he called. He stood looking at the goblins.

"I have an idea that may just save the day, but you two will have to leave your current duties to achieve it."

Tables were brought from all the houses that hadn't been smashed up and laid out in a line along the street. The trolls even got the goblins to assist. It was the quickest way to be able to achieve the goal. Now he put the next part of his scheme into action.

"I have decided that for those goblins who wish to redeem themselves can. We need every available pair of hands."

"They won't help you," said Blasta.

Santa totally ignored him.

"As you can see the trolls have chosen to help and have been forgiven. If you want the same then you help."

Some started to walk forward. Blasta went to speak again, but a troll grabbed him and wrapped a gag around his mouth. He could tell that Santa really needed the help and would not let Blasta interrupt again. Some were looking to help. If one or two started then others might assist too. Snart and Diggles got busy and started to organise the goblins into groups. Spare tools were brought, but they knew better than to use them to try and escape, especially with a troll stood behind them. Things were starting to look better.

**21**

Slowly over the next two days things were starting to improve considerably. More goblins had started to join the others. It beat standing around doing nothing. Blasta kept mumbling something, but it was a little difficult to hear him. Santa needed to start to make preparations for the trip on that special night. First, he went with Diggles and Petra. He had asked them about the presents and did it in the confines of his office in the factory. What he didn't want was for Blasta to overhear. If he heard then he might try and escape. That would not do. Now he announced that he was going to check on the reindeer for that day. They had been rehoused back in the stable. It was there home and after the amount of energy they had used and the sugar overload, Santa had wanted them to be well rested. Diggles had maintained his duty in looking after them as well as working in the factory. It made each day very long and more often than not would sleep in the stables.

Now they revealed to Santa where the gifts were being hidden. He had to smile and had never thought of shrinking the sack. It was best to leave things as they were until they were ready to leave. There was still much to do. Santa had one more thing to do on the way back to the factory. He stopped by the storage shed at the side and found the lock had been smashed. Opening the door, he found it was empty. Only one thing was ever stored in here. The sleigh.

"Diggles," he called. "Do you know where the sleigh is?"

All eyes looked up the road to where a mass of charred wood lay. The sun had melted the snow that had fallen on it and revealed the remains of what had once been Santa's sleigh.

"He didn't?" said Santa.

Blasta was smiling not that you could tell with the gag in his mouth, but his eyes had lit up. He had succeeded Santa had no sleigh it was impossible to save Christmas. Even though he was bound and gagged, it was starting to look like he had actually won. Santa could not travel the skies to deliver the gifts. At least that is what he thought.

Santa stood for a moment. There was one possibility. He knew that Diggles was very busy and to ask more of him might be too much, but unfortunately, he would require his help once again and perhaps also Petra too. Her skills might be required for this particular task. He called for both of them to go with him. Blasta was curious and his smile had fallen from his face. What were they up to? Well he was unable to see as they walked down the road out of sight. Now Santa led them to his old office. That was when he saw that the door had been smashed inwards.

"Not Blasta again?"

"Actually, that was my fault. Kind of had to distract a troll and things went a little wrong," said Petra.

He just shook his head and walked around to the back of the house. There, at the bottom end, was a large shed. Opening it there were a considerable number of cobwebs everywhere. A large tarpaulin sheet covered a large item in the centre of the shed. There were a considerable number of other things surrounding the walls too. Santa didn't really like to throw things away. Taking hold of the sheet he gave it a tug a puff of dust, that had been lying on its surface shot into the air and hid what was hidden underneath. The more he pulled at the tarpaulin sheet the more dust erupted upwards. It was large and he had to back outside to remove it completely. Then all three of them stood with him as the dust started to settle. There was no point going back inside until it had. As the dust settled and the air cleared it revealed a very old sleigh.

"I didn't know you still had this," said Diggles.

He was the first back into the shed and running his hand over it. The sleigh was old and had not left the shed in a great many years.

"Do I ever throw anything out?" said Santa, as he watched Diggles inspecting it. "Well?"

Santa was curious as to whether it would be of use or not. I will need to get help from the reindeer to pull it out. There isn't enough room to inspect it properly.

"I will leave the two of you to see what you can do with it."

He walked back to the factory there was still too much to do. For now, he was needed at the factory.

Petra glanced at the sleigh as Diggles walked to get the reindeer. She was used to working in confined spaces. I mean, her workshop was no factory and so lacked space when she worked on things. Hence why it had been such a squeeze to get all of the reindeer inside and then the others too when they appeared. It would take some work to sort it out again. Everything had been pushed back, but that could all wait until next year. She was still examining things when Diggles arrived back. He could see the look of concern on her face.

"What's wrong?"

"Not sure. I've had a quick inspection. Its old and I have no idea how it will hold up. I'm guessing it will need some work to make it presentable for in a few days' time."

"Well I guess we need to pull it out and see what we have to do?"

He hitched up the reindeer to the framework and slowly they started to pull it out. It wasn't easy as it was designed for the snow and was currently sitting on a dry floor. Slowly it started to move. The framework that was connected to the reindeer and harness' started to creak. It had been sometime since it had been pulled. Diggles instructed the reindeer to go slow and pull it carefully. They had no idea if it was even capable of being used.

Then there was a crack. The reindeer pulled it steadily and slowly it was starting to emerge from the shed. Now came a second crack. It could just be age, but Petra was there looking to see where the noise had come from. Then it was soon followed by a third and fourth.

"Stop," she called.

It had made too many noises and she was very concerned. There were no signs of anything serious from looking at the top of the sleigh. She didn't care that it was now sitting on the cold snow. Petra laid down and shuffled her way under. Diggles asked the reindeer not to move. She was underneath and examining the underside. Now she could see the cracks. A couple ran the length of the sleigh on the underside. It also looked like the runners were in bad shape too. When she had looked earlier it was too difficult to see as the light was very dim. Now it was outdoors where it was lighter, it didn't look good. Wriggling back out she stood up a little snow covered and wet from lying directly on the snow, but she didn't care.

Diggles was trying not to laugh at her she looked like half a snowman as her back was all white. She was not amused.

"I think we have a major problem I suggest you take a look yourself."

Now Diggles had worked on the old burnt and destroyed sleigh in the past and had already come prepared. There was a board that he had brought from the old shed. If Petra hadn't been so quick to dive under the sleigh she would have realised. He laid it down and took a look. She was right. There was a problem. After a quick examination he knew that it would require a complete strip down and rebuild. The best he could do with so few days left was to attempt to make some bracing pieces to try and strengthen the frame work. The runners were another problem, the sleigh would need to be lifted to examine them properly.

There was not time to waste. Lightbulb was the lead reindeer and was quickly released and the two ran back to the factory. He couldn't carry everything himself and needed certain things that were stored in that shed to help raise up and support the sleigh. He had a block and tackle too. Above the shed was a hoist position to help with any work that was required. It was the same on both sheds. They were back moments later and they all got busy. The sleigh was hoisted up, the reindeer all helped to make it easier. It wasn't good. As soon as it started to lift clear of the ground the runners fell off on both sides. Now he and Petra were able to see the other cracks. The area where they runners had been fixed had all split. This really wasn't good, but Diggles was unperturbed by things. He took the old ones off completely and looked at the possibilities. The sleigh was only ever on the ground for short periods. Therefore, he considered that a repair job and placing the runners a little closer to the centre would suffice. All the time he moved he had not spoken once, only acted. His mind however was racing ahead of him. Thoughts were analysing and calculating different possibilities. He got to work there was much to do. He asked Petra to remove the framework that connected the sleigh to the reindeer and check that for him.

The day started to slip away and they had everything checked and repaired. Well put back a different way and bracing pieces applied to the cracked and damaged areas. The framework that connected the reindeer to the sleigh was fine and had no problems that was one good thing. The sleigh started to move across the ground it all seemed good. It had travelled several metres and was still going strong. They had all worked really hard. The day was almost at a close and it looked like the sleigh would make it. Then...

A crack was heard and another very quickly then the sleigh jostled as it went over a bump and one of the runners came loose as it reconnected with the ground. This was not good.

"No, no, no," said Diggles.

Petra knew that feeling it had been exactly what she had said when her project had broken. The thing was is that her secret project was a motorised and electrical sleigh. The main control board had failed.

"What can we do now?" he said.

"I know just how you feel I had the same problem with the project I had been working on all year and with the goblins arriving I was unable to get the spare part that I needed ordered. It would have been a perfect replacement right now."

"What do you mean?" asked Diggles.

Petra explained what she had been building and planning. He was amazed and wide eyed. Another sleigh. The reindeer were wide eyed too and with amazement, but not for the same reasons.  
"You were intending to replace us?" said Blazen.

"I," she started to say.

"I can't believe this," said Sprinter and started to walk away.

The others were all disgusted too. Petra had no idea what she had actually done.

"I thought you might like a rest one year and enjoy the time with your friends."

It was why she had done it. Not to upset them.

"Why would we want to take that one night off?" said Princess.

"It is the most glorious evening of the year," commented Headbanger.

"I get to light up the skies," continued Lightbulb.

"Then there is the thrill of knowing that we make so many happy," said Bounce.

"I just like flying through the sky," said Nuts.

"Besides," said Buck, "we get to spend it with Santa."

She had no idea that for them it meant that much to all of them. Now she realised that they would be exactly where they wanted to be and should in the skies flying across the world and helping Santa.

"Besides my high-tech sleigh is broken and so we are no further forward," said Petra. "I'm sorry I thought I was just helping. I didn't know it meant that much to you all."

"You could have asked," said Glitz.

She nodded and knew that if she had an idea that involved them then she should.

"I think we should all get some rest," said Diggles.

It had been a long day, but Diggles wanted and early start. He had been doing some thinking.

**22**

Diggles was restless and couldn't sleep. He was up before dawn and went to Petra's workshop. The two of them had slept at the stables. She had felt really bad about upsetting them and had wanted to try and make amends. Now he entered and looked around for something that was large enough to be a sleigh. He was curious about it and wanted to see what she had achieved. After a quick examination he left. There were a few things that he needed from the workshop where the burned sleigh used to be stored.

His initial inspection showed that it was of a light material. Possibly plastic, of sorts. There was no point taking it to pieces to see how it had been put together. All he had wanted to do was determine if it was of a sound structure. He looked at the runners. They had been reinforced and looked excellent. Now the front of the sleigh was just a curved solid front. That posed a problem. He had already sat inside and looked at the control panel. It looked easy enough. That was good. Santa couldn't have complications on that particular night. He even tried it; the thing was completely dead. The panel underneath was not secure. Taking a peek, he could see that she had removed the circuit board. He nodded to himself. The whole sleigh was reasonably light, but not light enough for him to turn over. That was crucial to what he was thinking.

The was a jack close by, he placed something on the opposite side, so that when he jacked the sleigh up it would tip over, but not crash to the ground. At the moment it was the only possibility to be able to save Christmas. However, it required further examination and he was unclear as to what he needed to do. Once it was propped up and leaning to one side, he was able to fully inspect the underside. It was shaped in such a way that there was a concave formation of the underside of the sleigh. Basically, it gave a rim around the whole underside. It would seem that it was designed this way to protect the housing of the runner supports. An interesting idea, but what he was interested in was the forward area. He tapped repeated all the way along the structure. It was hollow. That was perfect. Now all he had to do was cut the inner area open. Diggles got to work.

Petra was at a loss as to where Diggles had gone. No one had seen him. When he had gone by the shed at the factory it had still been too early for anyone else being up. They were all working long hours right now and didn't really go to sleep until late. This was how it had been now for several days. Petra knew how important it was to get a sleigh ready and so took it upon herself to try and see what she could do with one that was needing a complete overhaul. Looking around, the shed was full of what looked like junk, but wasn't. It was filled with old sleigh parts and so she started to rummage through them to see what she could find. She found replacement runners. They were old, but sound. There was nothing wrong with them. She looked at those on the sleigh and decided to replace them with the ones she had found. Now the two of them, at different ends of the town, were trying their own ideas on how to salvage and create a sleigh for Santa.

The extra production lines outside the factory that were being used by the goblins were actually helping to speed things up. With Diggles and Petra busy away elsewhere, Santa had been to get the best scrutineer he knew, Mrs Claus. She had taken over quality control of the goblin's assembly line Snart couldn't do it as he was too busy supervising. Now Mrs Claus couldn't just turn up to the factory, certainly not empty handed. She had been busy since before dawn and as always when she visited the factory had several baskets of cookies. Not that they were not troll sized ones. Well some were, she couldn't leave them out. The oven had been burning bright and she was a little later than she had expected, but there were definitely enough cookies for all. Now it was time to inspect. Having never worked with goblins before she was unsure what to expect, with regard to their work.

She was pleasantly surprised, but hearing Snart shouting every few minutes she was starting to realise why they had been producing such good work. Now she walked up and down the line encouraging them all and praising them all for the hard effort they had put in. Then she saw Blasta and felt something had to be said to him.

"You should be ashamed of yourself."

He looked up at her, but was unable to say anything.

"Now if you promise not to say anything. I will remove your gag so you can have a cookie."

This really surprised Blasta. Why was she being so kind to him? Why had Santa offered the rest of his goblin army a way to redeem themselves? What Blasta had failed to understand is the Christmas spirit. It wasn't about fighting or trying to prevent anyone enjoying the event. It was about bringing everyone together. That is what Santa and Mrs Claus along with all of the elves, knew and understood. This is why when Santa made his proposals, that the elves knew and understood his big heart was just reaching out to them all. Santa watched as Mrs Claus fed him a cookie and just smiled.

Diggles was getting closer to completion of what had come to mind on seeing the sleigh it was well after noon and he was so hungry now. He had skipped breakfast, being too eager to see what Petra had constructed. Diggles was pleased with what he had been able to do. He stood up and stretched. No one had disturbed him which had been good at least he hadn't had to explain himself to Petra. Hopefully she would understand. He arrived back at the factory and saw Mrs Claus.

"Hello, Diggles," she said. "I saved you and Petra some cookies. Perhaps you would like to take them with you."

"Thank you," he said.

Opening the basket to take a peek he realised that there was also plenty for the reindeer too.

Petra was still hard at work. She was doing the best she could. Things hadn't been going so well the new runners were on. They had held too. That wasn't the problem. The cracks on the underside of the wooden frame was getting worse. She had re-braced it, but more screws had only allowed for more fractures to appear in the wood. She was sat in the sleigh at a loss when Diggles appeared. The reindeer were sat down. He was already on his second cookie.

"Cookie anyone."

The reindeer didn't hesitate. Diggles could see that Petra was sad. He looked around and saw that she too had been busy.

"Perhaps we should all take a walk," he said. "I need the reindeer's help."

Petra didn't move.

"I failed."

"You were fighting a losing battle, but you have done well with your efforts."

She lifted her head and he smiled. Then he offered a cookie.

"Come on I need your help too."

"Where are we going?" she asked.

"To your workshop."

"Why?"

"You'll see."

They arrived and the shutters were up. It didn't matter now that all of the goblins had been rounded up. Petra immediately saw that her sleigh had been pulled out. The modification was noticeable too.

"What have you done?" she said.

It was hard to tell if she was cross or not. Her tone was a little mixed as in, was it angry or curious or perhaps even both.

"After you declared that you had this and that the one Santa told us about was broken. I decided to get up earlier and come and see for myself. It can't be used as you intended, but I think I have managed a work around. I got the harness and its assembly from the shed of the one that had been burned. It can't be used anywhere else."

As he was talking Petra was already on her back looking underneath at what he had done. Diggles stopped talking and smiled. She didn't stop. Once she saw what he had done and then ensured it was secure, she turned to the reindeer.

"Okay guys this thing needs testing. Let's get you all hooked up," then she turned to Diggles and said something that even surprised him. "Good work Diggles, I'm impressed."

That was a first it took a lot to impress Petra.

It wasn't long before they had them hooked up and ready to give it a test run.

"Okay, take it easy at first," said Petra.

She had taken over. Diggles didn't mind he leaned against the outside wall of the workshop and watched. Petra was sat inside in the sleigh. She knew what she had created was sound. All she needed to do was ensure that the work Diggles had done held up. It looked like it was doing alright. Now she told them to pick up the pace. They trotted down the road and then turned around. Diggles saw them heading back and moved from the wall.

"So, does it meet with your approval?" he asked.

"Yes, you have done an excellent job."

He smiled again, "move over."

Diggles climbed in next to her. There was plenty of room for the both of them.

"You're going to want to hang on," he said.

Taking hold of the reins he gave one sharp whistle by two quick ones. The reindeer knew what that meant then he snapped the reins in the air making them crack like a whip. It was like a race official had just fired a starting pistol. The reindeer picked up the pace as they started to race down the road. The sleigh was performing perfectly, but that wasn't enough. Now he turned and winked at Petra. That was instantly followed by long whistle. That was it. The reindeer now accelerated as one they were pulling the sleigh at a tremendous pace. Petra's eyes went wide and Diggles pulled left on the reins. She grabbed hold of his arm as the bank into the turn. The sleigh slid, but did not roll. Now the reindeer accelerated out of town. Diggles whistled again once they were out of town. The reindeer had been given the all clear. They continued to accelerate. Petra had never ridden with the reindeer before the pace was amazing. She had seen Sprinter running before, but this was something else. It felt and seemed like they were going even faster than he did when alone. The combined power working as a unit was intense. It was the unity of them all that allowed them to travel the world in a single night. The sleigh felt like it was flying with its light structure, but had been properly weighted. Now Diggles was impressed. The frame and structure were doing incredibly well.

Now he whistled three times, signalling to the reindeer to turn around. Except as they turned, they didn't slow down. The sleigh slid the greatest distance yet. Petra clung to Diggles arm even tighter. It wasn't his first time doing this. On the home stretches the pace had increased again. Then as the edge of town appeared, he gave a single whistle and they slowed and trotted back to her workshop. Now they had a sleigh that worked.

**23**

The day had come. They were just finishing off the last gift. Blasta now realised he had failed. The presents had been brought to the factory. However, to ensure that hiding place always remained a secret the elves were the only ones who went to collect them. With all of them helping it didn't take too long to achieve. Blasta was still clueless as to how this had occurred.

"Well everyone, thank you for all of your hard work and effort," said Santa.

This speech was given every year and even though they had all heard it before, it still made them smile. Now Santa did something that was not expected. He turned and spoke to the trolls and the goblins who had helped, not Blasta, he was on the naughty list.

"I would also like to thank all of you too. This may all have been avoided if you hadn't of tried to cancel Christmas. However, it is the time to forgive and forget. Especially as you have all contributed to ensure that this year was possible."

Even the goblins and trolls were smiling. The trolls were pleased to be back in Santa's good books, considering Mrs Claus made the best cookies. Now all that was left was for Santa to load the presents into the new sleigh. He had spent some time earlier testing it out.

"So, your telling me that this sleigh will do the job?" he had asked.

Both had reassured him. Christmas eve was too important to leave anything to chance. The reindeer were all hooked to their harness'.

"You know that there is only one real test."

Now if you could have seen a reindeer smile then you would have seen all nine beaming with smiles. They knew what he meant; it was the one thing that made this particular night even more awesome than any other. Now he reached into a pouch at his side. Pulling out his hand it was as if his fingertips were sparkling. He sprinkled the glowing dust on to the other palm and blew. The reindeer started to shimmer as the dust settled upon the backs and heads. They were ready. He sat in the sleigh it was larger than he would normally use and there was considerable room, which meant that he could store everything in their current shrunk state and not require a return trip. Santa seemed pleased. It felt light, but now for the real test.

Snapping the reins, the reindeer started to speed down. He snapped them three times more and now they increased speed. They were running as fast as when they were with Petra and Diggles heading out of town. Except they were racing down the main street of the town. The speed was increasing. There was only one thought on Petra's mind will they make the turn.

"They won't make it," she cried out.

Diggles just smiled. "Of course, they will."

"But they are going too fast."

"I don't think they are going fast enough," Snart had said.

He had been curious and was watching too. They were closing on the houses ahead so quickly. There was no way that they could turn. It was impossible, but were they meant too?

"Reindeer," announced Santa. "NOW!"

With that final cry Lightbulb pulled back and up. The others immediately followed. The dust that they had been coated with was the one that the fairies provided Santa with. They still ran, but the road was not beneath them now. Petra's eyes went wide. She was normally too busy in her workshop and in her ninety-nine years of life as an elf had never seen this wondrous sight. The house was cleared as they started to soar upwards. It was just a test and only a small amount of dust had been used. They banked around to the left and raced across the sky above the town. Santa had them circle around twice more before he had them return to the ground.

When he was back on the ground he had stepped out and then looked at Diggles.

"Good work Diggles. I have no idea where you got the replacement, but it will do the job."

Then he had gone to walk away. Petra's head had dropped. Santa hadn't been talking about the sleigh though.

"Santa," said Diggles. "It was Petra who made the sleigh."  
"Oh, I know that," he said. "I was referring to your work on the harness. What eludes me though is why a master crafting elf isn't in the workshop more often sharing her ideas with the rest."

Petra lifted her head. Had he said what she though? Was he talking to her? Did Santa just say she was a master crafter. Normally you had to have at least one hundred years behind you before you were even close to starting that level of expertise.

"Yes, Petra," he said. "I meant you. I have realised for a long time you have an incredible talent. Why do you think I never insist on you being at the factory and allow you to develop your skill?"  
She was lost for words and had no idea what to say.

"I expect you to start sharing and attending from next year."

That had been the day before. Now they were all preparing for what came that evening. The sky was starting to get dark and the light was fading. It was perfect. They had all the presents loaded. Santa had a clean outfit on, everything seemed perfect. Except he hadn't moved. Everyone was waiting. Why hadn't Santa given the order for them to leave? Even the reindeer had looked back. He was about to do something that was so rare and never happened.

"Petra," he said, looking at her.

Everyone looked at him and then at Petra.

"Would you like to accompany me tonight?"

Everyone was speechless. Even Petra, she had no idea what to say. She looked across at Diggles and then said something that surprised everyone. Petra had just been given the chance of a lifetime.

"Santa," she started to say, in response. "I think Diggles should be the one to go with you. He was the one who finalised it."

"I couldn't," said Diggles. "It would never have happened if you hadn't of built the replacement in the first place."

Santa could see that he was not getting anywhere quickly.

"Why don't you both come? There is plenty of room."

There was no hesitation as they both climbed aboard. Santa could delay no longer. This was the most amazing thing ever. They had seen the reindeer the other day, but now they were about to experience the one thing that the reindeer and Santa only usually got to know. The snap on the reins were the signal as the reindeer sped along the snow. A breeze came around the corner and sped alongside them.

"Hey, Lightbulb," called Sprinter. "Pick up the pace otherwise that breeze will win."

"Win what?" he yelled back.

"The race to the end of the street."

"What race?"

"Of come on where is your sense of adventure."

Santa smiled and snapped the reins three times. One to shut up. The second to pick up the pace and thirdly was Lightbulb really not having fun. They accelerated, but tonight was the most glorious of all and Diggles just couldn't help himself and whistled at the reindeer. They knew what he wanted and Santa laughed out, "ho, ho, ho."

The pace was electrifying as they reached an untold speed. Petra grabbed the front of the sleigh as Lightbulb suddenly pulled up with such a force that the snow on the top of the house was blown clean away. The breeze that had attempted to out race them was lost as they levelled out and still the pace increased. There was no way they could slow down. There was so many gifts to deliver that the chatter had gone and now they were away. They headed east and raced as fast as they could.

"We have a good clear sky tonight," said Santa.

Now they were very high. Petra reached up, unsure if she would be able to touch the stars that shined so brightly. The moon was so full and clear that its pale light illuminated the sky like a night light.

Lightbulb knew the route and hit the first land mass and slowed and then dived. Both Petra and Diggles were clinging to the sleigh. The death-defying descent was intense. They felt like they were about to hit the ground, like an out of control express train that was about to take the next bend and derail. Yet at the point that they thought they would bring up lunch. They suddenly levelled out. Petra's hair had been flying behind her like it too was out of control. All Santa could do was smile. It was interesting to see them here and experience it for the first time. Diggles may have raced the reindeer out in the countryside at the north pole, as they did need their exercise. Perhaps in future he should reward other hard-working elves for all their efforts. Enough of that. Lightbulb started to circle around the first town and then Santa vanished. Moments later he was back and a snap of the reins and they were onto the next town.

"That was fast," said Diggles.

"Can't hang around. Do you actually realise how many gifts we have made through the year?"

"No," he replied.

"Millions," came the answer.

Again, they were off and the first continent was soon complete and then they were racing across the water. This was always a fun part of the ride. As they sped along, they were suddenly met by a superpod of dolphins. Pulling up they circled really fast and the special treat prepared by Mrs Claus was thrown overboard and they resumed on their way. Santa was full of cheer and merriment as they raced away. Mrs Claus really liked the dolphins and liked to give them something special each year. They had always met at the same spot and now they were over the next land mass of a small nation and then pulling east they were dashing racing through each and every city, town, village, commune. You name it, no one was left. No country either. Each and every person who had been good had got their justly deserved gift. Now they sped out across the eastern end of this exception large mass and then hit the cold snowy lands of the next large land mass. The night would soon be over and they still had much to do. The sacks were slowly dwindling down and Diggles and Petra were sure they would run out. Again, Santa just laughed and continued upon their way.

Now the final small continent in the south remained. Diggles and Petra had both been glued to everything around. Completely and utterly mesmerised by all the wonderful sights that existed. The Christmas trees, lights and decoration that adorned each place they went too. It was not hard to see that everyone was expecting to see Santa. Yet even with the speed and the bells on all of the reindeer not one person stirred. All were sound asleep. It was coming close to the end of the night and they were at the last town. Santa took of his gloves only two houses remained. The reason he could move quickly from place to place was because of his gloves. They had been imbued with fairy magic that allowed him to move quickly down the chimney and from house to house. Now he handed one each to Petra and Diggles.

"Here," he said.

They both looked at him puzzled.

"You two get to deliver the to the last two houses."

He looked at the two of them. There was a sack with the last of the gifts.

"How do we get there?" asked Petra.

"Just look and point."

She thought he was playing with her, but tried it anyway. Doing as instructed she pointed at the chimney and within seconds was inside the living room of the house. The sight was over the top. She took a moment to look around at all of the lights. It was even more glorious than outside. Realising that Santa would be waiting she pulled the sack open and pulled out the gifts. She was about to blow the pixie dust off when she realised, she wasn't alone.

Looking up she saw a small face. They had sneaked downstairs and fallen asleep on the sofa. There little face had opened its eyes and was looking straight at her. Petra blew across the gift and it instantly enlarged. Then she looked at the one there watching and said.

"Santa says hi and thank you for being so good."

Then she pointed and was gone. The eyes on the little face lit up and they stood instantly and screamed.

"Santa has been, Santa has been."

**24**

The two were still so excited that Santa sat back and handed the reins to Diggles.

"Take them home," he said.

Diggles was smiling his face beaming all over. He held the reins, but he didn't need them. The reindeer were used to him communicating with them in a different way. He whistled and Lightbulb pulled away. Moments later he was whistling again.

"Hey Santa," he said.

Neither of us might not get another chance like this again. Do you mind if we circle the world one more time?" asked Diggles.

"Ho, ho, ho," was the reply.

That was all Diggles needed to hear and let out a sharp whistle it was unlike any other he had used before and the reindeer had only heard it once before. They had never done this in the air before. All nine reindeer suddenly lurched forward and pulled with the most amazing speed that even Santa had to hold on this time and he was used to being with them in the air. He had to grab his hat quick so he didn't lose it. The reindeer rarely had this chance to open up with this kind of speed. Diggles was always loving his time with them. It was rare that he took them out with the sleigh across the snow, but he did when he could. Petra looked across at Diggles. This was a side of him she had rarely seen. Most elves had no idea what Diggles was really like. She was glad that he had got the chance to have this special night with them. He did work hard looking after them.

They were soon flying over the north pole and heading back to their little town. Another year was almost over, but it hadn't ended yet. Pulling downward and landing, the reindeer slowed and headed for the centre of town. For them the festivities were just starting. As always, whilst Santa was away, the rest of the elves would prepare for his return. Not one, but all got involved. They had no time before to decorate their small town. The reindeer slowed as they reached the main street in front of the factory. It had been completely decorated and was illuminated just like the places they had recently seen.

They stood now back at home. Yet now everything seemed a little different. Having seen what, they were doing for the whole year meant something. That they realised what all their hard work was about. It had made it all worthwhile. Zee saw them as they stepped off the sleigh. The band had set up and were playing a song. Mrs Claus knew where there were some guitar strings and Ghastly had restrung his guitar. The sound and lyrics of their Christmas song filled the air and rang out all across the street. Blasta was still there, but now it was all over. Santa went and found him as he had been moved in the time he had gone.

"I cannot ask you to be good or even try and stop you for your actions, but you should realise that at a time like this that everyone comes together and pulls together. That the spirit that comes from this time of year is far greater than anything you can imagine. No matter how you felt you could manipulate things and try and undo this night. One way or another it was not going to happen. Try to remember that if you ever want to try it again."

Now he reached down and unbound him. Then turned to walk away.

"Your freeing me. I thought you would punish me."

Santa looked back and smiled at him.

"You didn't succeed and to hold you here any longer would be wrong. You are free to go as are the others. I have no intention of holding any of you."

"And what is to stop me from trying again?" asked Blasta.

"Nothing, but before you leave I suggest you take a good look at everyone out there and remember that their combined strength and faith, even though they couldn't physically act as one, it was as if they were always together no matter what you tried that bond between them all is what won the day. If you choose to come again you will only be wasting your time you will not succeed. We will always find a way."

Then he walked away and went to join the others.

Diggles had taken some food and was away on his own. He had eaten and then stood to look out into the night and looked back on the events of the evening. Them flying across the sky was something he wished he could do every day. The feel of the freedom and the air rushing past you was an exhilarating feeling. He looked back at the others and watched. They were all enjoying themselves. The events of what had transpired before this night had all been forgotten. They had achieved their goal and all gifts had been completed on time. Even though it had required some help from the goblins. Now all were celebrating. It was a moment for them to all unwind. It had been a long hard year. Although they didn't normally celebrate until the last day, but everyone was here, so did it really matter.

Petra was talking with the reindeer. She hadn't realised that Diggles had sneaked off to have a moment to himself. Considering that she mostly kept to herself she had finally been able to achieve her lifelong goal and now she was even talking with the reindeer. She had not really left the workshop in the last few years and had very few friends. It was good for her to be out and about. Even though her surprise project for Santa had not quite worked as she had liked. She did learn one thing. No matter how high tech it had been there was no way that it could have been better than seeing the reindeer fly across the sky. That was a memory she would always have. Now she would have to think of another invention.

Now as she left the reindeer, she caught sight of Diggles stood alone. Petra walked over to him. He was back to gazing out at the sky.

"Hey, Diggles," she said. "It was amazing, wasn't it?"

"It sure was," he said.

"I'd like to say thanks."

"For what?" he asked.

"Everything."

He wasn't quite sure what she meant by that. All he had done was what he had thought was right. Diggles was a little lost as to what he should say in return. Something seemed different as she stood there in front of him. Was it the night ride in the sky? The lights and the music? He was unsure. Petra saw that his mind seemed to be somewhere else.

"Anyway, I will leave you to it."

He still didn't speak, but as she was about to leave, she turned back and kissed him on the cheek and then left. Now he realised what was different.

"Petra," he said.

She turned back, but he had already caught up to her and was at her side. Before she could have a chance to reply. He took hold of her and pulled her towards him and placed his lips on hers.

The fireworks erupted overhead. They shot upwards and exploded one after the other. Somehow, they had been let off early. Not that it was minded, but Santa caught sight of a mischievous goblin leaving via the shadows and just smiled. Now they all watched as they shot up and burst outwards illuminating the night sky.


End file.
